


Spider-Yena

by Spookyyenna



Category: Marvel, Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Multi, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2020-06-24 19:47:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 37,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19730566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spookyyenna/pseuds/Spookyyenna
Summary: in the city of Zootopia, criminals, and villains are on the rise. But one mammal rises from the shadows and steps up as a hero. swinging from building to building, webbing up bad guys along the way, and keeping his city safe! He is...Spider-Yena!





	1. Chapter 1

_ Ahhh...Zootopia. The city where sometimes your dreams can or cannot come true. Is that right? Or was it something like, anyone can be anything? Well. Whatever. Today was like any other day; mammals going from point A to point B, the ZPD doing their usual police work, and other normal or boring things within this city. As for me? Heh, I'm just passing through the neighborhood while chasing some maniacal feline with electric claws. _

**_-Dispatch! This is Officers Mchorn and Grizzoli! We're in the pursuit of escaped convict, Amadeus Clawson! Calls himself, ShockClaw.-_ **

**_-This is Chief Bogo! You and Grizzoli proceed with caution. Clawson isn't some ordinary criminal anymore. He's extremely dangerous and has already put a few of our officers and citizens in the hospital!-_ **

**_-Roger that Chief! the big guy and I are on the case! This will be a piece of cake.-_ **

**_-Shut your mouth Grizzoli! This is not the time for any cockiness! Anyways, be on the lookout for that hyena vigilante. I don't want him getting involved again.-_ **

And right as Chief Bogo said that the said vigilante was swinging into action as he swiftly dodged the bolts of lighting that were aimed towards him from the electrified villain.

**_-Uh...copy that Chief. We'll keep you posted. Mchorn out!-_ **

"Ugh, that's gonna be a lot of paperwork to fill out…" Grizzoli groaned.

  
  


"Don't even start…" Mchorn replied in a snippy tone as he continues to drive.

  
  


Amadeus Clawson, A.K.A. ShockClaw, was galloping through the streets of Downtown Zootopia as he continuously blasted bolts of electricity at Spider-Yena, who was dodging the attacks with ease. The white tiger was getting irritated as he couldn't shake off the hyena hero.

"Hold still so I can fry you bug!!!" ShockClaw exclaimed as he fired another bolt at the web-slinger.

  
  


"Woah there Shocky! If I didn't know any better, your crappie aim is starting to get better," Spider-Yena gibed as he pulled an air backflip to dodge the lightning bolt, and landed on a lamppost. "Or I'm just getting a good work out."

  
  


_ Oh, I forgot to mention something; I'm kind of a superhero. The amazing and sometimes spectacular Spider-Yena! I've been doing this hero thing for about five years now. However, my rise to heroism wasn't so easy...but we'll get to that later. For now, I need to put a grumpy kitty-cat in his place. _

"My name is not Shocky… It. Is. SHOCKCLAW!!!!" enraged from the web-slinger's witty insults, the electrified feline began to power up as all of the electricity begins to build up around him. "If I can't shake you or the cops...THEN I WILL TAKE THIS WHOLE DISTRICT WITH ME!!!"

  
  


_ “Shit! You need to think fast Spidey or else innocent mammals are gonna get killed,”  _ Spider-Yena thought to himself as he observed his surroundings for a solution. He soon notices a fire hydrant, then his web-shooters, and soon looks at ShockClaw. Thus, an idea was beginning to form inside the hero’s mind. “It’s risky and kinda crazy...but it just might work. Here goes nothing.” 

  
  


Firstly, Spider-Yena shoots two webs towards a nearby sewer lid, then swings it around and around in a swift motion, launches it at the fire hydrant, and immediately knocking the cap off of it. Causing water to flow out of it. Secondly, Spidey plants his foot on top of the spring fire hydrant, splashing the flowing water at ShockClaw, in which, temporarily prevented the electrified villain from charging up all of the electricity around him. The feline scoffed with disappointment as he flaps his wet arms. “Seriously bug?! Getting me soaking wet? What are you-a little pup?”

  
  


“Nope,” Spider-Yena replied simply with a chuckle as he aimed his web-shooter at the villain. “Just a hyena with a crazy idea.” And with that, he fired multiple web-shots at ShockClaw. Once the webs made contact, they start becoming solid like cement. Making the white tiger incapable of moving nor using his powers. “What the hell is this shit!?” he exclaimed. “Damnit! I can’t move!”

  
  


“Well, of course not you silly kitty!” Spider-Yena gibed. “That’s because of my new cement webs; a combination of my web fluid formula, some instant cement mix, and voila! That’s how I was able to stop you from creating a deadly power surge. I’m honestly proud of myself.” he says confidently as he pats himself on the shoulder.

  
  


“Yeah, Yeah, whatever smart guy,” ShockClaw in a snarky tone. “I got nothing else to say to you...bug!”

  
  


“Well, I got two for you,” Spider-Yena slowly walked over to the webbed-up villain. “One, spiders are not bugs!! And two…”  **_POW!!_ ** He delivered a powerful punch towards ShockClaw, knocking the feline out cold. “Lights out Shocky.”

  
  


Spider-Yena took a deep breath and a sigh relief as Zootopia was saved once again and another criminal was brought to justice. But before he could savor the moment once more, ZPD Officers would surround the costume-wearing vigilante and the unconscious criminals with their guns and tasers out. One thing for sure, this was not the welcoming committee that Spidey was hoping for.

  
  


“Don’t move Vigilante! We got you and Clawson surrounded!” Mchorn exclaimed as he kept his gun pointed at Spider-Yena. 

  
  


“Seriously!? This is starting to become a reoccurring routine with you guys,” said Spider-Yena as he crossed his arms in annoyance. “I stop the bad guys, save the day, and make sure all of the citizens are safe. Do I get any praise for it? Nope, just being held at gunpoint and sometimes being accused of being a criminal...It’s starting to get old.”

  
  


“Says the punk hyena dressed in some Halloween costume!” Grizzoli retorted. “You’ve been a pain in our asses for the past few years now and this time, we’re taking you in!”

  
  


“And like before, I make like a fly and buzz off! Seeya!” Spider-Yena shoots a web at a nearby building and zips away before any of the officers' could open fire on the orange-and-blue wearing hero. 

  
  


“Hold your fire,” Mchorn grumbled as he lowered his weapon and watch the web-slinger swing away from a distance. “Chief Bogo is gonna have me on desk work for weeks…”

* * *

**_Elsewhere…_ **

After swinging for a good while and making some distance from the groups of ZPD Officers, Spider-Yena landed on top of a nearby building rooftop in Sahara Square. He takes off his mask to breath in some much-needed air, followed by rubbing his mane to straighten it out and check for any small debris that might’ve got in.

  
  


“Nice work out there kid,” a male voice said as they approach the slightly taller mammal. “Not too much collateral damage this time...well...aside from the fire hydrant.”

  
  


“FYI, It was the only idea I had at the time,” a maskless Spider-Yena replied as he straightened himself up and got a better look at the mammal that he was talking to. “And knowing you or even the director, both of you would’ve done the same thing...Agent Savage.”

  
  


The striped bunny grinned and adjusted his tie before saying, “I wouldn’t underestimate me or Director Winter, kid. Trust me. She and I been through hell and back in the past.”

  
  


“Yeah, you got me there.” Spider-Yena chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. “But I sometimes think about how I got this far. From being some juvenile teenager running around causing trouble to a young hero that keeps the citizens of this massive city safe,” he says as he looked down at his mask. “What do you think Agent? Was I lucky? Or was it just plain ole faith?”

  
  


Agent Savage braced himself as he knew that this was kind of a serious topic. He may have been good at stopping terrorist and international criminals, but, giving life advice was not his forte. But he’s gonna try for the young hyena’s sake. “Listen, kid...I may not know the exact answers to your questions. But I do know this; whenever Zootopia is in trouble, or the ZPD and MCB are in need of a helping hand, like it or not, you are always there to give a helping hand and save the day. The City needs Spider-Yena. However, that’s for you to figure out and confirm for yourself. Any of this making sense to you kid?”

  
  


The hyena smiled softly and gave the striped bunny, who was caught off guard, a warm hug. “Yeah, I think I understand it. Thanks, Agent Savage,”

  
  


Agent Savage awkwardly smiled and pat the hero on the back before saying “No problem ki--Taj.”

  
  


“Wow! Either my spider-senses are on the fritz or you actually refer to me by my actual name instead of Kid” Taj smirked.

  
  


“Just this once.” Agent Savaged cleared his throat as he looked away to hide his embarrassing blush.

  
  


“Awww! So you do care about me, Agent! How sweet of you!” Taj gibed as he laughed at the fidgeting bunny.

  
  
  


Agent Savage ignored Taj’s comment as he cleared his throat once more and made his way towards the rooftop exit. But before he took off, he looked back at Taj and had this to say to him: “You did well today kid. Keep up the good work! Director Winter and I will be in touch!” And with that, Agent Savage has disappeared into the shadows. Leaving the maskless hero alone with his thoughts and on what to do next.

  
  


“Hmph! After all of these years, I think he’s starting to soften up,” Taj says to himself as he walks over to a webbed up back and takes it off the wall. He unzips it and takes out a spare change of clothes and his cell phone. After changing out of his costume and putting on his civilian clothes, Taj checked his phone for any missing calls, texts, or notifications. He missed a few texts from his friend, a call from his mom, and some recent news post about his heroics.

  
  


_ Text from Nathan (3): _

_ -Dude! Some white tiger with crazy lightning powers is on a rampage!!! _

_ -Yo, where are you!? Spider-Yena is swinging into action and he’s about to kick this electric cat’s ass! Hahaha! You’re missing out bro. _

_ -BROOOOOOOOOO!! Spidey just wrecked this dude with one mighty punch. I wonder what his workout routine is like...hmm. _

  
  


“If you only knew buddy...if you only knew.” Taj laughs and shakes his head as he reads the texts from his friend. He texts his friend back saying:  _ Sorry Nate! I got sidetracked with work and everything got crazy ^^; and wow! Spider-Yena showed up? I bet he showed that tiger who’ s boss. Gtg for now! I’m late meeting up with my mom and grandma. TTYL bro! _

Once he sent the text to his friend, he proceeded to call his mom. Fortunately, she picked up the phone immediately. Unfortunately, she wasn’t too happy about her own son missing her call and being late for their meetup. Luckily, after some quick explaining and a combination of I love you’s and you’re the greatest mom ever, Taj was able to take some of the heat off of him and informed his mom that he was on his way. Once he hung up, the young hyena booked it down to the streets below and caught a taxi.

_ Yep…just another typical day in Zootopia. Minus the whole being-a-superhero-ordeal, I'm just trying to live my life to the best of my ability. Oh! And I almost forgot; my name is Taj Nyani and I'm the one and only, Spider-Yena. I'm 21 years old, I work for a news network and have a grumpy red panda for a boss, and I have a thing for guys and girls...mostly guys! Hehe. But anyway, I've been fighting crime for five years now and let's just say, my origin story is a bit on the sad and edgy side. So get comfortable! This is gonna be a long story... _


	2. Origins

_**Zootopia: 5 years ago…** _

It was a warm but humid day in Savanna Central. Most of the mammals that lived in the central part of the city were either relaxing with friends and family, taking a walk, or finding some shade from the sun. However, not everyone could enjoy the beautiful day as a male pig employee was giving chase to a teenage hyena who apparently had stolen various items from his store. The said hyena was wearing a raggedy blue flannel shirt with a plain white t-shirt under it, and a pair of ripped black jeans to boot. He laughed as he continues to outrun the older swine with all of his speed and determine might.

  
  


“What’s the matter piggy!? Can’t keep up? Hahaha!!!” the teen hyena mocked as he sticks his tongue out and shoots a middle finger at his pursuer.

  
  
  


The pig employee ironically named Mr. Hogson took offense to the teen's rude gesture before replying with “Keep laughing smartass! I’m gonna get you sooner or later! And when I do, I’ll make sure to report you to the ZPD!!”

  
  
  


“Oh no! Not the lions and bulls in blue! I’m so terrified…” the teen hyena says sarcastically as he continues to outrun the pig until he makes a quick cut through a nearby alleyway. But before he got any further, he looked back at the now heavily-exhausted pig and says “See you around Porky!” before continuing down the alley. Proud of his successful steal and getaway, the teen hyena looked over at some of the things he stole; A couple of adult magazines, some canned goods, and a few junk food snacks. “Meh, It’s not a lot of stuff. But it’ll do for now” he shrugs as he starts walking again. Although, he felt accomplished the young hyena wanted to do more for his family. Especially since it's only him, his mom, and his grandparents.

  
  


_ Okay...I'll admit I was kind of an asshole when I was 16. But let's be honest here; who wasn't an asshole or a total jerk when they were a teen? Nevermind, let's get back to the story. My mom and grandparents weren't so wealthy like other mammals nor were they financially stable. Mom had to work two jobs and she barely got sleep, grandma worked at the local homeless shelter, and grandpa used to work at one of the fish markets in Tundratown. How the cold weather and smell of dead fish didn't bother him? It's a mystery. He loved it though… _

  
  


As soon as he was out of the alleyway, the young hyena checked his surroundings in case he had another run-in with that pig employee or worse, a ZPD Officer. The coast seemed clear for the moment until he heard the familiar sound of a police siren; without any bit of hesitation, the young hyena took off running. He ran as fast as he could while avoiding road hazards and passing citizens along the way until he was intercepted and tackled to the ground by the pig employee from earlier. “This piggy just knocked you down,” Mr. Hogson smirked as he kept one hoof pressed on the hyena’s chest to keep him from trying to run.

  
  


“Keep talking porkchop…!!” the teen hyena growled as he struggled with the swine’s hoof putting pressure on his chest. “When I get out of here, I’m gonna-”

  
  


“You’re gonna what Nyani?” the ZPD Officer said as they exit their vehicle and walk over to the two mammals. “From what I’m looking at, including the stolen items, I can charge you with petty theft and attempted an assault on a citizen.”

  
  


“Ah crap…” the teen hyena mumbled nervously as he recognized both the officer and her voice. “H-Hey there Officer Fangmeyer! You look dashing today!” he says as he attempts to sweet talk the tiger officer.

  
  


Save it! You’re already in enough trouble!” Fangmeyer replied as she picked the hyena up by his arm and cuffed him. “Oh, and I already called your mom. She didn’t sound too happy on the phone,” she says as she walks the teen hyena to her police cruiser. 

  
  


“Oh, great…” the teen hyena groaned and rolled his eyes as he got into the back seat of the cruiser. 

  
  


Officer Fangmeyer confiscated all of the stolen items and returned them to Mr. Hogson, and then proceeded to apologize for the stress and trouble that the poor pig had to endure from earlier. The said pig told the officer to not worry about it and mainly hopes the teenage delinquent gets punished for his petty thievery. The feline officer agreed with the pig’s statement and was on her way as she entered her vehicle with a satisfied smirk on her face. “Okay, Nyani, how many times have we done this? 5? 6? You tell me,”

  
  


The teen hyena shrugged before replying with, “How should I know? It’s either you, horny or ole buffalo butt. Also, it was 7 times.”

  
  


“Well, lucky for you, I’m not gonna recommend sending you to the Zootopia Juvenile Center,” said Fangmeyer as she starts the car and begins to drive. “Besides, Officer Mchorn and Chief Bogo would definitely combine their paychecks to mail your scrawny butt to juvie in a heartbeat! But I wouldn’t. Do you know why?”

  
  
  


“...Because you’re an old friend of my mom’s…”

  
  
  


“Exactly,”

* * *

_ While Fangmeyer was driving me home, I took some time to think about my dumb teenage decisions. I also needed to think of an excuse to keep my mom from grounding me...again and to keep my grandma from physically kicking my butt for being a troublemaker. Hey, she may be old, but she can whip you into shape and scare the living hell out of you at the same damn time. As for gramps--while not as scary as grandma or mom, he definitely had his ways of scolding and disciplining his then troubled grandson. Speaking of discipline...I’m about to enter the first stage of my funeral. Pray for your pal Spidey guys! _

  
  


As Officer Fangmeyer pulled up to a medium-sized house in the rougher parts of Savanna Central, a family of hyenas stood to wait for the teen hyena’s arrival. In front of the house was a female hyena in her 30’s, wearing a crimson blouse, and a pair of baby blue jeans. She had her arms crossed and a menacing glare that could make any male hyena bow or beg for mercy. Next to her was an older hyena couple, both mammals being in their late 40’s to 50’s. The female one, being slightly taller than her husband, was wearing a black coat with a blue shirt under, and a matching skirt. Her husband, who was a bit shorter, wore a grey sweater vest with a white shirt underneath, black trousers, and a pair of reading glasses. They too looked mad and upset, however, they weren’t as angry as their adult daughter was.

  
  


The female hyena stomped over to the police cruiser and impatiently tapped on the driver’s window until Fangmeyer rolled it down. The feline cop wasn’t phased by this as she’s used to seeing her old friend be upset or angry. Although, in this case, she was furious beyond anyone’s imagination. “Hello, Angie.” Fangmeyer greeted in a friendly tone.

  
  


“Where. Is. he!?” Angie asked in an infuriated tone. “I have a  _ few  _ choices of words I would like to say to him,”

  
  
  


“He’s in the back seat, Angie. I’ll get him out for you.” Fangmeyer got out of the cruiser and walks over to the backseat to retrieve the teenage hyena and free him of his cuffs. “Don’t hurt him too much Ang! I know how you and your mom are,” she chuckles.

  
  


“Thanks, Tonya! I can’t make any promises for whatever happens to him,” said Angie. “However, I’ll make sure he gets punished for what he did…!” she says as she slowly looks over at her son and shoots sharp daggers at him.

  
  


“Right! Well, I gotta get back to the ZPD now,” said Fangmeyer as she hops back into her police cruiser. “Good seeing you girl, we’re still on for ‘Ladies Night’?”

  
  


“Ugh, after today’s little incident, definitely!” Angie replied as she starts to rub her temples. “See you on Friday!’

  
  


Officer Fangmeyer bid her friend and her family farewell as she begins to drive off and make her way back to the ZPD. Once she was gone, Angie quietly walked over to her son, ferociously grabs him by the ear, along with a tight grip, and growled the following: “ **_Tajani Campbell Nyani!!_ ** Stealing again!? What the hell were you thinking?”

  
  


“Ack! Do you have to pull so hard!? And was using my full name even necessary!?” Taj exclaimed as he continuously winced from his mom’s tight grip on his ear.

  
  


“If you were smart, you’d keep that little mouth of yours shut!” scolded Taj’s grandma as she points a claw at her grandson. “Honestly Taj, it’s already bad enough that we all have to work to make ends need, help your mom with the bills and rent, and keep you out of trouble!! If you keep this stupid little behavior of yours up, you’re gonna end up in one of three places; jail, dead, or iced by Mr. Big.”

  
  


“Your grandmother has a point Taj. Your little rebellious phase is starting to get old.” Taj’s grandfather added as he adjusted his glasses. “What happened to you? You used to be a good boy, a straight A’s student, someone who would give the fellow mammal a helping hand, and now you’re just a pitiful shadow of your former self…”

  
  
  


Taj growled in annoyance and anger until he got loose of his mom’s grip and snaps at his grandparents. “What do you freaking care!? All the other mammals in this dumb city and at school see me as some scary smiling monster!!! And I’m constantly picked on by some of the much bigger and taller predators, and the former me was nothing but a weak little loser!”

  
  
  


“That’s enough Tajani!!” Angie exclaimed. “You will not take that hostile tone with my parents! Look, I get it, times have been tough ever since the whole  _ ‘Night Howlers’  _ fiasco….but that doesn’t give you the right to go out and steal from other mammals!! We raised you better than that!! Why!? Why would you go and do something so pitiful and stupid?!”

  
  
  


Taj went quiet as if to show that he doesn’t feel like talking anymore and he has nothing else to say to his mother. However, his mom or his grandparents didn’t take too kindly to the sudden silence coming from the teen hyena. He attempts to walk away from the heated discussion until a pair of paws grabbed him by the collar of his flannel shirt and slammed him hard into the wall. Surprisingly, it wasn’t his mom or his grandmother. It was actually his grandfather.

  
  


“Listen here you ungrateful-snarky-little-bastard…” he growled. “...I get that things are hard at the moment, but that doesn’t give you a pass to be disrespectful to me, your grandmother, and most definitely not your mother! She’s been through so much! Long before you were even born! And if I have to, I will knock some sense into you. Just like how I did your jackass of a father…”

  
  


“Jamal...don’t do this..” Taj’s grandmother warned.

  
  
  


“I’m sorry Imara, but, this grandson of ours needs to learn some respect and a bit of a reality check. Even if the truth hurts,”

  
  
  


Taj stayed quiet for a few more minutes until he starts shivering and sniffling. “What the hell do you know…!?” he exclaimed. “That bastard was never there for me! Or mom! And what, you think I’m gonna be a cold prick like him!? Huh?”

  
  
  


“Tajani...I-I’m” Jamal started. But before he could say anything else, Taj smacked his arms away and stormed into the house with angry tears burning down his tears. “Tajani! Hold on a second-”

  
  
  


“JUST LEAVE ME ALONE OLD MAN!!! YOU SAID ENOUGH…!!” Taj shouts with more tears running down his face.

  
  


Jamal pushed his ears back into his skull as he felt guilty for upsetting his grandson. Even if it was for his own good. He rubbed his mane, which was in a bun, and huffed due to being lost for words and not knowing what to do next. That is until he gets a comforting paw from his wife and their daughter. “I’m so sorry...I think I went too far…”

  
  


“It’s alright dad, he just needs some time to calm down,” said Angie. “He’s still grounded, however, but we’re gonna leave him alone for now.”

  
  


“Angelina’s right dear,” Imara added. “You did what you have to do. But, for now, let’s give Taj some much-needed space. I’ll go make us some tea to help us all relax.”

  
  


“That’s a good idea, mom,” replied Angie.

  
  


Jamal nodded in agreement before saying, “Tea sounds good about now.”

* * *

**_Meanwhile in an unknown location…_ **

“Run the test again. I want to make sure that there are no mistakes this time.”

“But sir, if we keep going with this its gonna attract unwanted attention! Specifically those of the ZPD or those bastards at the MCB. This too much of a risk!”

  
  


“Last time I checked, I was the one in charge of this experiment! And I’m not paying you to give me your pitiful concerns or opinions. So unless you want to end up in the ‘trash’ like your replacement, then I recommend you shut up and do as your told!! Do I make myself clear!?”

  
  


“Y-Yes, sir...sorry sir. Commence Test #13 on Subject SP-616!”

The mysterious mammal turned on a machine and began a sequence of commands, in which, activated its dual lasers, which were placed on both ends of the contraption. The lasers were aimed to fire at the object in the middle of the machine; a green-and-black spider with the number  **_616_ ** stamped on its abdomen. Once the machine was powered up, the lasers fired a powerful concentration beam on the spider. It soon starts to glow because of all the radiation coming from the lasers, although, problems were starting to develop as warning alarms started going off around the two mammals.

  
  


“Don’t you dare stop this damn machine!!! I came too far for this experiment to foolishly fail. There’s no way in hell am I turning back now!!”

  
  


“The machine can’t take much more of this sir!! At this rate, we’re gonna have a deadly explosion on our paws!”

  
  


“I DON’T CARE!!! IF A FEW MISERABLE MAMMALS HAVE TO DIE TO ACHIEVE MY SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT THAN SO BE IT!!!!”

  
  


Before they could keep going, the machine was starting to fall apart as jolts of electricity began to pop out. It then proceeds to catch on fire and cause everything to fall apart around it, and finally, it exploded. Destroying most, if not, all of the equipment and other unknown items inside the mysterious locations. There were no survivors of the explosion as most of the mammals involved in the experiment were badly burned to the death. But in a shocking turn of events, there were two survivors of the massacre; the now radioactive spider and the head mammal in charge. He crawled out of the rubble as he was in an injured and weak state, half of his fur and suit being burned off, and his muzzle being partially damaged. 

  
  


“It...worked...t-the experiment worked…” the mammal groaned as he noticed the unscathed spider. “Now for phase two…” he smiled devilishly.

**_To be Continued..._ **


	3. Origins Part 2

**_-Good Morning Zootopia! And welcome to ZNN! I'm your News Anchor, Fabienne Growley and with me today is my Co-Anchor, Peter Moosebridge!_ **

**_-Thank you, Fabienne! And we got some breaking news this morning; last night, there was an explosion at an abandoned laboratory in the Rainforest District! News reports have stated that there were a few casualties in the massacre. Although, rumors are saying that the victims were believed to be scientists from Alphasun Industries._ **

**_-However, these said rumors have yet to be confirmed by the CEO of Alphasun himself, Mr. Oscar Burnell!_ **

**_-The grizzly bear will be holding a conference at his company today! In which, he will be unraveling a 'Secret Project' that will up the ante within Zootopia's scientific division. ZNN will keep you posted as today's events go into fruition._ **

**_-And with that, we are signing off. I am Fabienne Growley!_ **

**_-And I'm Peter Moosebridge!_ **

**_-From all of us here at ZNN, have yourselves a wonderful day!_ **

* * *

It was an awkwardly quiet morning in the Nyani household. After the fallout from a few days ago, things have been a bit tense between the teenage hyena and his family. Jamal was drinking a cup of tea while listening to the radio, Imara was eating smoked tuna while reading a BarkFeed article on her phone, Angie was fixing herself a cup of coffee before heading off to her first job, and Taj kept his head down while eating a bowl of cereal. Jamal looked over at his grandson and soon began to contemplate whether to say something to him or just leave him alone.

  
  


"Well," whispered Imara. "Here's your chance Jamal. Talk to him.

  
  


"I-I don't know…" Jamal stuttered. "He's been giving me the silent treatment for the past few days. I think he hates me now,"

  
  


"Oh hush you!" Imara exclaimed as she smacked her husband on the shoulder. "Taj loves you! And you know it. Besides, he's a teenager. They all have their angsty moments."

  
  


"And they can hear you talking about them," Taj says as he raised his left eyebrow and keeps the focus on his cereal. "But, grandma's right about one thing, I do love you and I'm sorry for how I acted a few days ago." He gets up from his seat and walked over to his grandparents to give them a big hug. "I know I'm still grounded, I need to do better, and no more stealing."

  
  


"Good," said Angie as she took a sip of her coffee. "Now finish up your breakfast and get your stuff together before you be late for school!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Taj lightly chuckled as he went back to finish eating cereal.

Jamal and Imara smiled at their grandson as they're glad that all of the tension and heated anger from a few days ago has melted away. However, this may be the last time that any kind of happiness will come to or from this family of hyenas.

_ I remember every morning after breakfast, mom would drive me to school before she went to work. I always thought it was convenient and I didn’t have to worry about catching some dingy school bus, but in actuality, my mom was afraid of me getting into fights with the bus driver or with any of the other kids on the bus. Meh, who could blame her? I would’ve made everyone late because of my antics. As for school, I go to St. Zoo High! Your standard high school in Zootopia. Chock Full of mammals big, small, or just plain short. Ironically, most of the alma mater was full of predators and only a handful of prey. Luckily for me, I had a diverse group of friends to help balance us out. _

  
  


As Angie pulls up to the school she kisses her teenage son on the cheek. Taj, who cringed like a little child, quickly grabbed his backpack and exit out of the vehicle with quick haste. “If you’re done embarrassing your only son, mother, I will see you later.”

  
  


“Yes, yes, pardon me for giving my baby boy some love” Angie sassed.

  
  


“Mom...I’m not a baby. Well, not anymore at least. I’ll see you at home!” Taj replies as he begins to sprint towards the school entrance.

  
  


“Love you, sweetie!” Angie exclaimed as she waved to her son.

  
  


Taj nodded quickly as he continues to sprint, in hopes of not getting any unnecessary attention. “Just keep walking Nyani. She’ll drive away eventually,” he says to himself.

  
  


“Okay, so that’s how you wanna play it?” Angie smiled slyly as she gets back into her car and immediately honks the horn. This immediately gets the attention of Taj and all of the other students going into the school. She then proceeds to roll down the window, stick her head out, and shouts “I LOVE YOU, SWEETHEART!!! BE A GOOD BOY FOR MOMMY!!!” 

  
  


“Oh. My. God.” Taj groaned as he covered his blushing face and quickly stormed into the building. Once he was inside, a handful of students looked at the hyena and began to snicker and start talking about him behind his back. Taj didn’t take too kindly to this gesture and started to get mad as he was already embarrassed and somewhat infuriated. “What!? If you got something to say to me, speak it!! Because talking shit about me is only gonna make you look more like a self-centered asshole!”

  
  


“Hey look! Momma’s boy is trying to act tough,” a male aardwolf, named Draven, chuckled as he and his entourage approached Taj and began to harass him. They surround the male hyena and began to push and shove him, toss his backpack around, calling him names, and verbally insulting him.

  
  


“Yeah, numbnuts! Fight back! If you know how!”

  
  
  


“Him? Fighting? That’s a laugh. I bet he’ll start crying after getting a bruise from a light tap!”

  
  
  


“Look at him! I think he’s gonna cry! Your mommy can’t come to your rescue now!”

  
  
  


“You’re screwed now mama's boy! And there’s nothing you can-”

  
  


“...How about you shut the hell up before I knock the living shit out of you dumb bastards!!” Taj growled as he showed his fangs and clenched his fist. "I’m trying to have a good day and I don’t need you and your dumbass cronies ruining it.”

  
  
  


“And what makes you think that you can take us all on Nyani?” the aardwolf asked as he pushed Taj to the ground and empties the contents of his backpack on top of him. “I mean, just look at you, you dress like complete shit, you come from a crappy home, you have a broke ass family, it's kinda funny actually.”

  
  
  


“Shut up Draven…” Taj says as he starts to tremble with anger.

  
  
  


“Awww! Did I struck a nerve Nyani…?” Draven chuckled. “Did I hurt your little feelings?”

  
  


“I said shut up…!!” Taj says with more anger in his voice as he gets back on his feet and dusts himself up.

  
  


“Or what? You’re gonna cry to mommy? Or your daddy? Oh wait, I forgot, he left! Because your mom was a lousy bitch and he had a dirty scum mammal for a son!” the aardwolf gave a cruel smirk before receiving a double high-five from his subordinates.

  
  
  


“That fucking does it!!” Taj exclaimed as he ferociously tackled Draven to the ground and proceeds to beat him down. He grabbed Draven by his throat and repeatedly slams his head to the ground, followed by a series of punches to the face, and finally slamming his elbow on his chest. But before he could keep going, Taj would soon be overpowered as the more aggressive aardwolf kicks him off and slams him onto one of the nearby lockers. Draven then proceeds to punch and knee Taj in the gut until the hyena was on his knees clutching his stomach to suppress the pain. Draven then walks over to Taj and lifts him by the collar of his shirt.

  
  


"So...you're gonna kiss me now? Or what?" Taj smirked.

  
  


"Tch! I ain't gay like you Nyani," Draven scoffed. "And even if I was, I wouldn't kiss a dirty freak like you."

  
  


"Aww! That's too bad! Jackass pricks aren't my type anyway," Taj sassed. "And for the record, I'm bisexual. So get your facts, straight dumbass."

  
  


"Whatever! All I want to do now is to kick your sorry dirty ass until your shitty family can't recognize you. So get ready!" Draven says as he raised his fist in the air and prepares to strike the hyena until suddenly-

  
  


"Hey, didn't your mother ever teach you not to hit? Or were you just born a boneheaded jerk?" Said a female cheetah as she approached the aardwolf and his cronies.

  
  


“Hey, Charlize…” Taj laughed sheepishly. “Crazy morning huh?”

  
  
  


“And you got yourself into another situation. Oh, Taj, what am I gonna do with you?” Charlize said as she shakes her head and looks displeased.

  
  


_ Alright, Introduction time! The feisty cheetah that may or may not be able to save my butt is my childhood best friend, Charlize Yende. We grew up in the same neighborhood together, our families were close friends, and we were always there for each other. Especially after Charlize’s mom and little sister were killed in a break in...she and her dad had to see a therapist ever since. Moving on from that, Charlize was like the big sister I wish I had, she always looks out for me, and scolds me when it's necessary. Overall, I’m lucky to have a unique and yet bold cheetah for a friend. _

  
  


“Hey! Mr. Tall, dark, and dumb over here started it first,” said Taj. “And I might have escalated it a bit…”

  
  


“I only half believe that,” Charlize replied as she crossed her arms. “But as your friend, I will give you the benefit of the doubt and a rescue. Also, Draven, unless you want to get your ass kicked by a girl...again. I suggest you let Taj go.”

  
  


"Tch! Fine, I was just getting warmed up too!" Draven says as he lets go of Taj and backs away from him. “But that’s okay. I got after school to kick your dirty ass and your little kitty cat girlfriend can’t save you then!” he sneered. 

  
  


“This ‘kitty cat’ got claws and isn’t afraid to use them.” Charlize threatened as she took her claws out in a menacing matter. “Care for a demonstration?”

  
  


Charlize got her answer as Draven and his goons immediately took off running with their tails between their legs. 

  
  
  


“That’s what I thought...babies.” Charlize sassed as she retracted her claws. 

  
  
  


“Thanks for the save Charlize! I owe you big time!” said Taj as he patted his cheetah friend on the shoulder. “What would I do without you?”

  
  
  


“Probably serving detention for fighting,” Charlize replied. “And how about you paying for lunch today and we’ll call it an even?” she winked.

  
  
  


“Deal...but I also have some things to tell you…” Taj says as he pushes his ears back and rubs his mane nervously.

* * *

**_Meanwhile at Alphasun Industries…_ **

Inside one of the labs, a few of the scientists were hard at work in getting Burnell's 'Secret Project' done before his big presentation later today. One of the scientists, a female honey badger, was an emotional wreck as she came to learn that her husband was one of the victims in the unfortunate lab explosion that occurred in the Rainforest District. When she went to go confront the bear, all she got was the following response:  _ "Your husband was an idiotic fool. If he and the rest of his colleagues hadn't screwed up the experiment, they would've had a slim chance of survival. Now! Get back to work or I'll make sure you and that damn little brat of yours live on the streets for good!! Do I make myself clear!?"  _ This left the poor honey badger in complete distraught. All she could do was cry and scream, knowing the fact that her daughter will never see her dad again and the mammal she once loved is gone forever.

But before she could continue with her silent grieving, Oscar Burnell himself entered the room with his assistant and lawyer close behind. They were bombarding the grizzly bear with reports from the media, angry phone calls from the victims' families, and a personal search warrant from the ZPD.

  
  


“Sir, the ZNN need that confirmation about your possible involvement at the Rainforest District Massacre and officers Hopps and Wilde are here to search through the building,” said the assistant. He was an antelope in his early twenties, he wore a pair of blue trousers and an open vest.

  
  


“Just what I need, more problems and nuisances.” Oscar sighed irritably as he rubbed his temples. “Give the damn bunny and conniving fox the go-ahead, however, keep them away from the  _ ‘Private Areas’  _ of the building. Tell those lousy news reporters that I had no involvement in that massacre, and as for those phone calls; send them to my voicemail. I will have the pleasure of deleting every last one of them myself.”

  
  
  


“Yes, Mr. Burnell,” his assistant replied as he wrote everything down in his planner. 

  
  
  


“Hm, right. Although, you do realize that other mammals will eventually figure out what you’re up to, and will use different tactics to expose your true intentions right?” his lawyer asked. He was a snow leopard in an all-black blazer and trousers combo and was carrying a brown suitcase in his paw. “I hope you know what you’re doing Oscar. You may be one of the richest mammals in Zootopia, but not all the money in the world could save you.”

  
  
  


“On the contrary Mr. Cisco, money is just one way to keep certain mammals off my back,” Oscar sneered as he adjusts the cuffs on his suit. “Another way, which I like, is  _ physical  _ communication. If you catch my drift, Mr. Cisco,” he says in a cold-mannered as he loudly cracks his knuckles.

  
  
  


“L-Loud and Clear Oscar…” the snow leopard stuttered nervously as he tugged on his collar and struggled to keep eye contact with the large mammal. "You won't have any problems with me...promise."

  
  


"Good boy," Oscar nodded as he grew a cruel smile. "Now then, back to the business at hand; getting the mammals of this pitiful city to bend to my will. Whether they like it or not."

  
  


Burnell soon turns his attention to a nearby test tube. Inside of it was a pattern of spider webs, rocks, tiny logs, and the radioactive spider as it crawls around the tube and proceeds to thread another web. The bear looks down at the tube and puts his paw on it before saying, “And soon enough...everyone will learn to not underestimate me.” he smirked with a light chuckle.

_ After going through all of my morning classes and a couple of mid-afternoon classes, it was lunchtime and I was starving. Once we got our lunch, Charlize and I went to our usual table where the rest of our friends were waiting for us. As soon as we sat down, I told the gang about my little ‘incident’ from a few days ago; Charlize was not happy with me and she had her special way of showing it... _

  
  


“Ow! Was that even necessary!?” Taj exclaimed as he rubbed the back of his head.

  
  


“Yes, yes it was,” Charlize replied as she crossed her arms like a disappointed parent. “I should hit you again for how you snapped at your grandparents too! But it sounded like Ms. Nyani and Mr. Jerome set you straight at least.”

  
  


“I have to agree with Charlie on this one bro,” a male lion added. “I mean, going off on your grams and pops is one thing, but stealing? C’mon Taj. You’re better than that.”

  
  


_ Ladies and gentlemammals, Mr. Tall, tan, and handsome over here is my pal, Nathan Furaha. We’ve been friends ever since the second grade! And let me tell you guys something about Nate, he’s a big softie and will always find a way to put a smile on your face. It came in handy at times when Charlize and I were sad or angry. Plus...I may or may not have had a crush on the big oaf. But can you blame me? He’s cute, buff, sweet, and he has a nice -ahem- moving on, Nate may be a goofball at times, but he has a big heart and knows when to be serious at times.  _

  
  


“Alright. I get it already. I don’t need another lecture! Especially not from my friends.” Taj says as he pulled his ears back and rolled his eyes in annoyance. “And I promised them that I won’t steal anymore. Plus I’m grounded for two weeks and I have to work with the guy that I stole from.”

  
  
  


“Well, I hope you’ve at least learned your lesson Taj,” said Charlize as she playfully ruffled his mane. “But, seriously, we love you and don’t want anything bad to happen to you,”

  
  
  


“Yeah, bro! Who would help me kick Charlie’s butt in Ultimate Z-Fighter!?” Nathan says as he gives the two mammals a buddy hug.

  
  


“Pfft! In your dreams Nate!” Charlize smirked as she stuck her tongue out at the lion.

  
  
  


Taj smiled and laughed as he wondered how ended up with such great friends. However, he soon notices that a few members of his group were missing at their table. “Um? Where’s the rest of the gang at? There’s usually six of us here.”

  
  
  


“Matthew and Riley have Soccer Practice at the moment,” Charlize replied. “And you know how those two bunnies are when it comes to sports…”

  
  
  


“Yeah, and our girl with the brain, Maki, is currently at a luncheon with the Class President and the math club,” Nathan added. “Eugh! I don’t see how she can handle all of those snobby nerds,” he says as he cringes at the thought of doing constant math problems with uptight students for hours.

  
  
  


“This is coming from the lion that’s failing geometry and compares it to a puzzle-solving game,” Charlize sassed. “If anything, those ‘snobby nerds’ could give you a tip or two on your math.”

  
  
  


“That was harsh Charlie...very harsh,” Nathan replied in an overly-dramatic way. “Alas, you are unfortunately correct. I have the mind of a gaming master, but not the mind of a nerd.”

  
  


Taj just sat there and laughed as he watched his friends throw witty and sassy remarks at each other. “Maybe today won’t be such a bad day after all…” he said to himself.

_ It was finally after school and all of the students, including my friends and I, were pretty relieved to be out of there and not have to deal with any boring teachers or classes. Unless you’re in a club or have tutoring lessons. But enough about school! Let’s get back to me and my friends. Charlize filled in Matthew, Riley, and Maki on what happened this morning with Draven, then I told them about what happened to me a few days ago and--yep--you guessed it. They too weren’t happy with what I did...I honestly don’t blame them. I deserved to be scolded. The bunny twins lecture me about how stealing was wrong and how I could get myself killed if I stole from the wrong person. Talk about foreshadowing future events. Finally, our brainy friend, Maki, got a turn to get on my ass for how stupid and selfish I was. The young doe can be quiet and even a bit shy at times, however, she can be brutally honest and fierce. Especially if she’s given an extra boost of confidence. I know my friends mean well, they only want what’s best for me, and we always look out for each other! Like one big family. And to this day, I still stay in touch with every one of them. But that’s a story for another time...hehe. _

  
  


“I’ll text you guys later! My ma needs help at home.” Nate says as he takes off the direction towards his house.

  
  
  


“I gotta do a book report for geography! Wish me luck!” Charlize added before she waved her friends goodbye and sprinted after Nathan.

  
  
  


“Race ya to the bus stop little bro! Try to keep up!” Riley chuckled as he made a running start towards the nearby laybys.

  
  


“You’re on dude!” Matthew replied as he chased after his twin brother, leaving the rest of their friends behind in the dust. “

  
  
  


“Well, I gotta catch the train at Central Station. I guess I’ll see you all later. Be safe everyone~” Maki smiled softly as she starts walking towards the transit at Savanna Central.

  
  


And with that, all of Taj’s friends have gone their separate ways and the teenage hyena was the only one left. He sighed quietly as he adjusted the straps on his backpack and proceeded towards the grocery store, in which, is where he stole several items from a few days prior. He dreaded going back to the place where all of the trouble for him started, but he had no choice or say in the matter as this was part of his punishment; working for Mr. Hogson at the Savanna Central Grocery Store for two weeks. Taj would’ve rather had Chief Bogo or Officer Mchorn ship him off to boarding school for the next two or three years instead of doing manual labor without pay. He groaned as he knew that there was no in hell that he was gonna get out of this one. That is until a certain aardwolf and his gang of cronies got the young hyena’s attention. Draven had a score to settle with Taj and he wasn’t gonna leave until he got his message across.

  
  


“What’s up Nyani?! You ready to get your ass kicked by a true alpha?” Draven asked arrogantly as he pushed his chest out and had his arms open in an attempt to show dominance. His cronies were also hyping him up by howling and rooting for their leader.

  
  
  


“Look Draven, I had a long, I gotta be somewhere soon, and I don’t have time for your bullshit,” Taj replied in an irked tone. “How about this; you let me go now and you can pick a day to whoop my ass into submission? How does that sound?”

  
  


Draven didn’t like Taj’s suggestion and was immediately offended by the fact that his attempted dominance wasn’t taken seriously. “You think this is a damn joke!? I waited all day long to kick your teeth in and I’m not about to lose this opportunity because you want to chicken the fuck out!!!” he exclaimed with impatience and anger in his voice. “You wanna do this the hard way Nyani?! Fine! Hold him down, boys! I want to savor every moment of this beating."

  
  
  


And so, all of Draven’s cronies begin to slowly approach and surround Taj. He looked around his surroundings for an escape route, but most of them were either blocked off or unreachable. The young hyena was in trouble and he had to think of a way to get out of this potentially bloody conflict. He had one idea in his and it sounded both crazy and risky. This plan was simply known as the following; Hit and Run. He first strikes a few of Draven guys, then proceeds to make a run for it. “Shit! Shit! Shit!” he mutters to himself as he looked back at the group of mammals chasing him and an extremely pissed off Draven who was pursuing him with his canine barred and his claws completely out.

  
  


“YOU’RE A DEAD MAMMAL NYANI!!! WHEN I GET MY PAWS ON YOU, YOU’RE DEAD!! DO YOU HEAR ME!? DEAD!!” Draven shouted as he continued to chase after the hyena.

  
  
  


Once Taj heard that threat, he quickly picked up the pace and ran as fast as he could. He cuts through an alleyway that goes directly towards the center of Downtown Zootopia. He took a minute to catch his breath from all the running he did, but it was soon cut short by the sound of Draven and his group approaching. He had to think fast, and he had to find somewhere safe to hide until the heat dies down. The young hyena checked his surroundings and most of the places within the vicinity were either too obvious or he’s been there before. This was not going to be easy for him. Until he notices a massive building from a distance; it was located by the Central Station and its logo consisted of a capital ‘A’ and the symbol for the sun. “Guess I don’t have a choice,” Taj says as he starts running again and begins to make his way towards the unknown building.

  
  


After 5-10 minutes of running, dodging, and maneuvering through the hustling and bustling parts of the city, and the still infuriated Draven, the young hyena finally made his towards the tall and mysterious building. He first notices that the entrance is guarded by rhino security guards, followed by multiple security cameras scattered around the building, and finally a whole bunch of mammals in business attire or lab coats. Taj whistled in amazement before saying “Whoever owns this place, sure like their privacy,”. He then proceeds to look for an entrance into the building.

  
  


_ Ah yes. Alphasun Industries. The piece of shit corporation disguised as a company that “supports The Science of Zootopia”...support my ass...uh, sorry about that. If it's not too obvious, I’m not a big fan of Alphasun or any of the things they’ve done over the years. To put it simply; they’re the bad guys. Well, at least one of them anyway. More on that later! Let’s fast forward the story a bit, shall we? I was able to get inside the building by sneaking through an open back door. Cliche I know, but it was better than trying to bribe the guards. Anyways, once I got inside, I knew I had to be careful. Because if anyone catches me, I was gonna be in big trouble, and boarding school was obviously out of the question at this point. _

  
  


As Taj stood in the quiet but brightly lit corridor, he knew something was off about this place, and he wasn't going to leave until he gets to the bottom of it. He quietly walked through the hallway, sticking to the shadows, hiding behind corners to avoid detection, and snapping a couple of photos on his phone. Then suddenly, something caught the young hyena’s attention. One of the doors in the hallway opened and out came two sheep scientists. They both seemed to be stressed about something and were having a private conversation. Luckily for Taj, he was close enough to hear what the two ewes were saying.

  
  


“Damn that grizzly bear!” exclaimed one of the sheep. “How the hell am I suppose to get this ‘special project’ of his done and deal with that damn genetic spider at the same time!? I sometimes think that massive ego of his blinds his judgment on the mammals around him,”

  
  


“Will you please calm down!?” replied the other sheep. “And besides, Mr. Burnell is a busy mammal and you know how he is when it comes to his agenda.”

  
  


“Right, his agenda, wouldn’t want to get in the way of that.” the sheep scoffed as he continues to walk in an upset pace. “I need a drink after this,”

  
  


“Look, I’ll buy a drink afterward okay? Let’s just get through the tasks that Mr. Burnell wants us to do today. The more work we get done, the less chance we’ll have of getting yelled at or even fired.” the other sheep says as he placed his hoof on his colleagues’ shoulder.

“I guess you’re right…” the sheep nodded as he begins to calm down. “I honestly don’t see the importance of that spider...I mean Subject SP-616.”

  
  


As the two sheep continue their conversation and disappear further into the hallway, Taj makes his move as he stealthily moves towards the door before it automatically closes back. Once he was inside the room, he soon notices all of the computers, monitors, and test tubes throughout the place. He slowly walks around and takes more pictures on his phone. “Alright, science geeks! Time to see what you guys been up to," he says as he further explores the mysterious lab.

* * *

**_Meanwhile…_ **

“Yes, Angela, I tried calling his phone, I left him a couple of voicemails, and I even tried texting. No answer!”

  
  


_ “Well, alright, just keep trying to call him dad. He was supposed to be at the grocery store an hour ago! I called Mr. Hogson at the store and he said that Tajani never showed up...I swear to god...if he skipped out on his responsibilities and punishment, I’m going to-” _

  
  


“Now, now, there’s no need to stress yourself out sweetheart. These kinda things happen. I’m sure he’s on his way and probably ran into a little bit of trouble along the way.”

  
  


_ “Ugh, I hope you are right about that dad. I honestly don’t know what I’m gonna do with that boy. He used to be a sweet little pup, and now, he’s this teenager with a bad attitude. Wh-Where did I go wrong with him?!” _

  
  


“Now you stop that nonsense! You did nothing wrong. You did your very best while raising him. Taj is very lucky to have a hardworking and amazing mom. Plus you get your spunk and serious determination from your mother. I know it’s been rough since  _ ‘you-know-who’ _ was there and what he did to you--but he’s gone now and your mom and I are here now. Things will get better my  _ ua kidogo~  _ I promise.

  
  


_ “Thank you, dad...I needed to hear that. I believe things will get better too! And I couldn’t thank you and mom enough for everything that you’ve done~” _

  
  


“Anytime Angela, anytime. Uh, listen, I gotta go now. I’ll be home later! Okay? Give your mom and Taj a kiss for me will ya?”

  
  


_ “Sure thing dad~ See you tonight! Love you!” _

  
  
  


“Love you too sweetheart~ bye!”

  
  


As Jamal ends his phone call with Angela, his attention soon turns to the Savannah Grocery Store. He looks through the window and sees several mammals down on the ground, most of them with their paws rested on top of their heads. He then looks over to the register and sees Mr. Hogson being held at gunpoint by two large mammals; one of them was a black panther who was wielding a pistol and had it aimed at the pig in case he tried to pull any stupid heroics. The other mammal was a crazed wolf who was carrying a shotgun and keeping it aimed at the hostages. Most of them being with crying and scared kids.

  
  


“Hurry the fuck up you fat slob!!” the panther exclaimed impatiently. “The longer you take to fill that bag up, the closer my partner gets to releasing his trigger finger! I’d be a shame to have the blood of dead mammals and kits all over your store. We wouldn’t want that now, do we?” he says menacingly

  
  


“P-Please! I’m going as fast as I can!” Mr. Hogson replied with fear and pleading in his voice. “Just let the hostages go and keep me instead,”

  
  


“Awww! Little piggy is trying to make a deal? How pathetic! Hahahahaha!!!” the wolf laughed hysterically as he wildly waved his shotgun around. “Stupid! Haha! Very stupid!”

  
  


Suddenly, Jamal stormed into the store with fierce anger and was now standing face to face with the two armed robbers. The two larger mammals just stood still and stayed quiet and watched until the elder hyena decided to break the silence by saying the following, “You dumb punks got nothing else to do? Robbing the local neighborhood store and putting these innocent mammals in harm's way. How shallow can you get!?” 

  
  


"Who the hell you think you are geezer!?" The panther laughed as he redirected his gun at the elder hyena. "I'll blow your goddamn brains out and then piggy over here. So go ahead. Be a hero. Watch what happens."

  
  


Jamal just smiled and got into a running position before saying, "Gladly, punk," and sprinting towards the panther. He first ducked under him and delivered a quick jab towards the feline's stomach, then he disarmed the robber by twisting his paw, which caused him to drop the gun, followed by a palm-heel strike to the nose, and finishing it up by throwing the large cat over his shoulder and onto the ground. The panther robber was down for the count and all he could do was moan and groan from the pain he endured.

  
  


"H-How did I…get beat by some old man…?" The panther muttered as he struggled to sit up.

  
  
  


"Ex-Military soldier and a few self-defense classes," Jamal smirked confidently as he stood over the defeated criminal. "That oughta teach ya some-" but before he could finish his sentence, the elder hyena heard the sound of a shotgun cocking and then...it was too late...

  
  


**_CHOOM!!!_ **

  
  


A single shotgun shell fell to the ground. Dead silence all around the store. And then, a puddle of blood started to spill around Jamal as he took a minute to register what just happened to him. He looks at his shirt, then his paws, and soon notices that they were covered in blood. His blood. Jamal finally realized what had happened; he was shot in the chest and he wasn't going to make it. He struggles to stay on his feet until he collapses on the side of the floor with his left paw covering his gun wound. He was losing a lot of blood and could barely keep his eyes open.

  
  


"Guess they didn't teach you to watch your back in the military...dumbass," said the wolf robber as he rested his shotgun on his shoulder and walks over to the register with the intent to retrieve both the bag of cash and his partner.

  
  


"I believe this belongs to us," he says as he retrieves the bag of money from the store counter and then helps his partner up. "C’ mon big guy! Let's get outta here before those ZPD chumps show up!"

  
  


The panther robber finally got back on his feet, with a little help from his wolf partner, and was slowly making their way out of the store until he saw Jamal bleeding and struggling for his life on the floor. "Damn...I didn't think he was gonna get shot.." He mumbled to himself as he and his partner disappeared into the night.

  
  


Once the two robbers were gone, Mr. Hogson dropped to his knees and begins to cry. He felt helpless in stopping those criminals and keeping the elder hyena from getting shot. But before he could continue with his bawling, he picked up the phone and immediately dialed 911.

  
  


_ "911, what's your emergency?" _

  
  


“Y-Yes! I need the ZPD and an ambulance at the Savannah Grocery Store!! We’ve just been robbed and one mammal has been shot! Please hurry!!

  
  


_ “Okay, sir! We got your location and we have officers and an ambulance en route. Just sit tight and stay on the line with me. Okay?” _

  
  


“Alright! Just please hurry, I don’t know if he’s gonna make it!”

  
  


With tears still running down his face, Mr. Hogson carefully knelt next to the fatally wounded hyena and says “H-Help is on the way...just try to hold on...okay?”

  
  


“...Thank you,” was all Jerome could manage to say before coughing up more blood and wincing from the intense pain of his injury.

* * *

**_Back at Alphasun Industries…_ **

Taj was continuing to explore the mysterious laboratory and has made a few discoveries along the way. He discovered footage of the explosion that occurred over at the Rainforest District, and files and documents with ‘ **TOP SECRET** ’ stamped on both of them. “This is huge,” He says as he takes out a flash drive from his pocket and insert it into the lab’s main computer and proceeds to download the video footage. Across from him stood the test tube, which is where the radioactive spider was kept. However, the top to the tube was left open and the spider was missing. Unaware to Taj, the green-and-black arachnid was slowly making crawling up his back, then onto his shoulder, and finally his arm.

  
  


“And that should do it,” said Taj as the video finishes downloading into his flash drive. He then detaches it from the computer and quickly stuffs it back into his pocket. But suddenly, the young hyena gets a little surprise; the radioactive spider slowly crawled down his arm and onto his hand. “Hey, there little guy, where did you come from?” he cooed. “I’ve never seen an odd spider as you before-OW! Shit!” Taj shouted as the arachnid bit down hard into his hand. 

  
  


“Sonofabitch! That hurts!” he says as he quickly swats the spider off his hand and takes a closer look at the bite it left behind; his hand had two bite marks in the middle along with a little bit of blood dripping out of it. “I’ll have to patch this up later...for now...I need to get the hell out of here before those two scientists come back,” he quickly grabs all of the files and documents from earlier and stuffs them into his backpack before making his swift but quiet getaway.

_ Once I made it back outside, I soon realized how late it was. Not to mention, there was no sign of Draven or his goons. For now at least. However, I soon realized that I was extremely late for working with Mr. Hogson at the grocery store; serves me right for stealing. Plus the fact I was late too? Wouldn't be surprised if my mom was there to 'visit' and see if I was working off my punishment for petty thievery. And so, I started making my way towards the store! Hopefully, Mr. Hogson won't be too upset about me being late. I mean, I have an actual excuse for being late, and it's not easy shaking off your local malcontent and his buddies that want to beat you to a bloody pulp. And this is coming from a former malcontent...very smooth Spidey…ugh, nevermind. As soon as I got to the store, the whole place looked like something straight out of a crime drama; ZPD officers were everywhere, ambulances were flashing their lights, and there was police tape covering the entrance. However, what I saw next, shook me to my very core. See for yourself… _

Taj walked over to a lioness and asked: "What the hell happened!?"

"There was a robbery...two of the perpetrators were predators; I heard one of them was a black panther and their partner I believe was a wolf," the lioness replied somberly. "Luckily, none of the hostages or the store clerk were harmed in the attack. But…"

  
  


"But? But what!? C'mon! Tell me!" Taj pried impatiently.

  
  


The lioness covered her mouth and started to choke up before she replied with, "They shot someone…!"

  
  


"What? Who!?" Taj exclaims as he begins to panic. "Who the hell got shot!?"

  
  


"He was a hyena," the lioness replied as she wipes her warm tears. "Probably a bit older? Like mid-late 40's?"

  
  


Taj's heart soon drops as he hears the description of the hyena and his worst fears coming to fruition. "No, no, no, it can't be…" he says as he begins to tear up. "D-Did they happen to say his name…?"

  
  


"I think they said it was Jamal-" but before the lioness could finish her sentence, Taj was already running towards the crime scene.

  
  


_ "Grandpa! Why did it have to be grandpa!? What the hell was he even doing here anyway!? Nevermind that. Please just be okay!"  _ Taj thought to himself as he blindly pushes his way through the crowds of mammals, and ignores the sound of the ZPD officers telling him to get back and rejoin the other citizens. Once he was inside, he soon noticed a fox nurse and his bleeding grandfather on the floor.

  
  


"OH MY GOD...GRANDPA! GRANDPA!" Taj shouted as he begins to tremble at the sight of his injured but bloody grandfather. "What did you do?"

  
  


"Sir! I'm going to have to ask you to please leave," said the fox nurse as he attempts to redirect the distraught teenage hyena back outside. "I'm sorry, but it's for your own safety!"

  
  


"Yeah, well, I'm sorry about this too," Taj stomps the nurse's foot and pushes him to the side as he runs over to Jamal's side. "I'm here Gramps…"

  
  


"Ta-Tajani…" Jerome groaned as held his paw out for his grandson. "Come here, son…"

  
  


The teenage hyena hesitated a bit before slowly sitting down next to the elder mammal and holding on to his paw tightly. "Yes...grandpa…I'm listening…"

  
  


"Well, this old man isn't gonna make it…" Jerome groaned as he struggles to talk. "I never thought it would end like this…"

  
  


"Don't talk like that!!" Taj exclaimed as he starts to choke up. "We're gonna get you some help, patch you up, and you'll be home with grandma, mom, me, and-"

  
  


"Hush now cub…" Jamal replied sternly. "You're doing more talking than listening. Now then, my fate was already sealed when I confronted those two young punks…however, I don't regret a damn thing. I don't regret protecting other mammals. I don't regret standing up to bullies. And I sure as hell don't regret putting other people's lives first before mine! I lived a good life; married the woman of my dreams, had a beautiful daughter, and soon after, a handsome grandson. I love you Tajani...and I'm sorry for what comparing you to your-"

  
  


"Don't worry about it Grandpa," Taj replies as he gently hugs Jerome. "I forgive you…"

  
  
  


"Good, good," Jerome nods as he wipes some of Taj's tears off. "Listen Tajani, before I go, I need you to make me a promise; be a good boy again, look for the good in others, and watch over your mom and grandma for me. They're gonna need you now more than ever. Okay? Can you do that for me?"

  
  


"Sure thing gramps…" Taj sniffled. "I won't let you down, I promise."

  
  


Jamal smiled one last time and slowly closed his eyes before saying "I love you Taj...take care of yourself…"

  
  


"Grandpa...open your eyes…please," Taj pleaded as he shook his grandfather's now lifeless body. "Grandpa...G-Grandpa...GRANDPA!!!!"

_ And just like that, my grandpa was gone. He died a hero, a soldier, a husband, a father, a friend, and a grandfather. Rest easy gramps. You did your family proudly. I spent the next minute hugging his body until Officer Mchorn and Officer Fangmeyer had to forcefully pry me off of him. I wasn't ready to say goodbye, I didn't want to believe he was gone, I wanted to hope that he would wake up and things would go back to normal. But they didn't. Things got worse. Once Fangmeyer took me home, she delivered the bad news to my mom and grandmother; my mom completely broke down for the first time in years and this was the saddest that I've ever seen her in. My grandmother, who was also heartbroken by this tragedy, comfort her only daughter in silence. As for Fangmeyer, she knelt and hugged both of them. She understood their pain, she knows what it's like to lose a family member, and she knew the road to recovery was gonna be a long one. As for me? I couldn't bear to watch my mom and grandma cry over the loss of my grandfather, so I ran upstairs and locked myself in my room. All I wanted to do at that moment was cry and disappear, but at the same time, I wanted to hunt down the bastards that killed Grandpa and bring justice to my family. But first, I needed a disguise… _

Taj walks over to his room closet and pulls out the following items: a sleeveless orange hoodie, a long-sleeve blue t-shirt, blue leggings, a pair of orange fingerless gloves, an orange bandana, old black goggles, and finally a sewing machine. He then puts the pieces of clothing and all of the other stuff on his work desk. And right as he's about to sit down, something catches his attention, an old picture frame; inside of it was an old photo of Jerome holding a then 6-year-old Taj on his shoulders.

Taj lays the picture frame down and looks at all of his materials before saying, "Time to go to work."

**_To be Continued..._ **


	4. Rise of a Hero

_Revenge…it can be toxic to your soul. It can corrupt your mind and judgment. But worst of all, it can get you killed; which is what almost happened to me on the night when I tracked down the robbers that murdered my grandfather. They trapped themselves inside an industrial warehouse over in Tundratown, and the whole place was surrounded by ZPD officers. They sent two officers to apprehend these guys. However, yours truly had other plans..._

“Alright, pal, just let the perp go and we won’t shoot you.” Officer Nick Wilde stated as he and his partner, Officer Judy Hopps, had their guns trained on an orange and blue wearing hyena vigilante.

“We can end this standoff peacefully,” Judy added. “Nobody has to die, we’ll make sure he and his partner get locked up for good, and we’ll maybe, just maybe, let you go.”

“No offense Carrots, but are all you bunnies this naive?” Nick gibed as he gives his partner a side-eye grin. “He’s just some costume wearing nutjob! Trying to serve his own brand of justice.”

“I’m just trying to reason with him, Nick!” Judy replied, keeping her focus on the two mammals. “And if we weren’t in a serious situation right now, I’d smack you for that naive bunny comment!”

The vigilante himself stayed quiet and ignored the two cops as he kept a strong grip and focus on the wolf robber who was struggling for air and his life as he was dangling over a broken window. He looked past the fearful canine and noticed all of the ZPD officers looking directly at him and flashing a searchlight on them. He soon notices a cape buffalo officer walking towards the front with a megaphone in tow.

**_-ATTENTION VIGILANTE!! MY NAME IS CHIEF MASON BOGO OF THE ZPD. I DON’T CARE WHAT YOUR MOTIVES OR TENSIONS ARE, BUT I DO CARE ABOUT THE SAFETY OF MY OFFICERS AND BRINGING CRIMINALS TO JUSTICE THE RIGHT WAY. SO THIS IS YOUR FIRST AND FINAL WARNING: LET THAT WOLF GO AND ALL THREE OF YOU SURRENDER PEACEFULLY OR I WILL ORDER MY OFFICERS TO SHOOT YOU ON COMMAND. CHOOSE WISELY!-_ **

“P-Please! I don't wanna die!” the wolf pleaded as he continues to dangle. “I know I fucked up by killing that hyena, but, if you let me go-”

“How about you shut up before I ‘accidentally’ drop you?” he threatens with venom in his voice. "And If anything, why should I let you go!? You're nothing but a coward and a murderer!"

He then tightens his grip around the wolf's neck to the point of him choking and attempting to loosen his captors' grip. "C-Can't breath…"

"Good," the vigilante said grimly. "I want you to feel the exact same pain that you put that elder hyena and those other mammals through...and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it,"

_Okay, okay, before you see your pal Spidey go full edgelord on this poor bastard, let’s backtrack to how this huge mess started..._

* * *

**_2 Days Earlier…_ **

It was a cold and wet morning in Zootopia. Downpours of rain flooded most of the downtown area and nearly half of Savannah Central. Meanwhile, in the more rougher parts of the district, residents of all species came together with flowers and lit lanterns as they honor the memory of their late neighbor, Jerome Nyani; An elderly hyena who lost his life the other night protecting his community from common street thugs. As for the rest of the Nyani family, they were doing their utmost best to keep their composure.

Angela laid down a bouquet of flowers next to the pictures and memorabilia of her father as she wipes the fresh tears running down her cheeks. She soon rejoins her mother and son as they listen to their neighbors give a few kind words about Jamal.

_"Jamal was a great mammal! He always had a kind heart and was always wise. It’s too bad about what happened to him, and he will be missed dearly."_

_"Ol' Jamie was one hell of a mammal during our days in the army. He always knew how to see the positive in dire situations...if only he was here to give us that gleam of hope."_

_"I've known Mr. Nyani and his family ever since I was a cub. I grew up alongside his daughter and I've been through everything with them. Through the good, and the bad. However, Mr. Nyani's untimely death won't be forgotten. On behalf of the ZPD, we will bring his killer to justice."_

Taj stayed quiet and kept his head to the ground. All he could think about at that moment was seeing his grandfather's then bleeding body and the last thing that was said to him before he died: _"I love you Taj...take care of yourself…"_ in which, left him feeling regretful and angry; the former being the fact that he could've done something to help if he hadn't been late the other night and the latter because his grandfather, who was more like a father to him, was wrongfully killed plus the murderer is still on the loose. Before he could continue with his internal thoughts, he felt a big paw grip on to his shoulder snapping him back into reality.

"How you're hanging Tajani?" Fangmeyer asked softly.

  
  


“I feel like the world's crappiest grandson," he ridiculed himself. “If I hadn’t been late last night, Grandpa would still be here.”

  
  


“Hey, beating yourself up isn’t going to help and what happened to Jamal was not your fault,” Fangmeyer replied as she bent down to be face to face with the teenage hyena. “Listen, we’re gonna catch the guys that did this and make sure they get life in prison. Okay? So until then, please stay out of trouble and be good. For your mom and grandmother’s sake at least.”

_“I’m sorry, Fangmmeyer but trouble crossed the line when a member of my family was killed,”_ he thought to himself. _“And I’m gonna make sure the sons of bitches pay for this. Personally.”_

"Fine...I’ll try to stay out of trouble,” he replied begrudgingly. “Only because my mom and grandma have been through enough stress.”

  
  


“That’s all I ask” Officer Fangmeyer nodded solemnly.

_After the memorial for my grandfather was finished, I tried to convince my mom to let me stay home from school. Partly because I wanted to add a few finishing touches to my disguise and the fact that I still owed Draven a beatdown from yesterday; he was probably restless and super pissed at me for outrunning him and his boys. But, unfortunately, my mom said no as she wants me to focus on my education and try to get my grades back up. “It’s what your grandfather would have wanted,” is what she said to me with tears in her eyes...and she was right. I need to do better, I need to get my act together, and most of all, I need to keep that last promise that grandpa gave me before he died. And I was going to make sure of it..._

* * *

**_Over at Alphasun Industries…_ **

**_ROAR!!_ **

“You...GODDAMN IDIOTS!!! HOW THE HELL COULD YOU LET SOMEONE NOT ONLY SNEAK INTO MY BUILDING, BUT ALSO STEAL THE FILES THAT HAD ALL OF MY TOP SECRET INFORMATION, AND LET MY DAMN SPIDER DIE!?” an infuriated Oscar Burnell stated as he pinned one of the sheep scientists to the wall.

“S-Sir, please calm down!” the sheep begged as he was fearing for his life. “This was just a minor mistake. I-I’m sure we can find a solution-”

“You called this a minor mistake!? Do you realize how much money I spent to get this far!?!” he growled furiously. “Now I’m back to square one! My files and the spider are both gone! And it's all your fault!!”

The sheep scientist was trembling with fear as he struggled with his employer’s deadly grip and a fear-inducing glare that felt like a cold knife piercing through his body and heart. He soon begins to hyperventilate as he's unsure of what the grizzly bear was going to do next. He soon gets his answer as he gets a terrifying close up of Burnell's fangs before hearing the following: "Consider yourself--terminated."

In a matter of seconds, Burnell slammed the ewe onto the ground and proceeds to pound his muzzle repeatedly. With each hit getting louder and bloodier by the minute. The poor scientist was helpless as his cries for help and mercy were blocked by the sound of gushing blood and crushing bones. The beating went on for a few more minutes until the ewe's head was nothing but a mushed up pile of blood, bones, and wool. He then proceeds to wipe the excess blood from his paws and suit with a handkerchief. After that, he looks over at his antelope assistant and the other sheep scientist who were in complete shock and knew if they said a word about this to anyone, specifically the ZPD or MCB, they too will face the same faith as their fellow employee. Or something far worse.

"Why so surprised?" He asked calmly as he finished cleaning his paws. "Those who failed or crossed me will face the consequences of their actions. Even if I have to get my best suit dirty--again."

The two mammals quickly nodded and continued to listen to the now calm ursine.

"No matter! there are always replacements. But let this be a warning for the both of you and everyone else here at Alphasun; I will no longer tolerate failures or 'minor mistakes' like yesterday. Unless you want to end up like your friend over here," he says as he points to the dead ewe's body which is now surrounded in a puddle of blood. "Do I make myself clear?"

  
  


“Crystal Clear, Sir” they quickly replied in unison. “No more mistakes!”

  
  


“Good, now get back to work,” Burnell says as he begins to exit the laboratory with a cruel but satisfying smile on his muzzle. But before he left the room, he looks back at the now rotting corpse and says “Get someone to clean up this mess. The smell is starting to bother me.”

_I’m gonna be honest...going to school was the last thing on my mind. All I wanted to do at the time was hunt down grandpa’s killer and make them suffer for all the pain and misery that they put me and my family through. And besides...who wants to go to school or even anywhere after a relative just died!? Lucky for me, I had such amazing friends that were always there for me._

As Taj was putting his books into his locker, he gets pulled into a big hug by his friend, Nathan, who had a somber look on his face. “Heard what happened to your grandpa...I’m so sorry bro…”

“Thanks, man…” he replied softly as he embraced the lion’s affection. “...It was a rough night and a shitty morning for everyone; I could barely sleep, my mom was crying all night, and my grandma hasn’t said a word since she got the bad news last night.”

“I know its hard bro, but listen, we got your back. Charlie, Maki, the twins, and yours truly!” Nate winked.

Taj lightly blushed at the large feline before replying, “I appreciate it big guy,” and unwrapping his arms from his friend. However, there was a problem, his hands somehow got stuck and he couldn't get loose. He attempts to pull away but with no success. "Uh, sorry! Give me a second,"

_Believe it or not, this was one of the first of many moments that my new powers start to kick in. And of course it had to happen at the moment I'm hugging one of my best friends/crush...ugh, I swear these spider-powers are a curse sometimes._

  
  


_"_ Everything okay bro? the lion asked nervously as he noticed his friend struggling to get his paws off his sides. "Do you need any help? I can-"

"No! I-I mean no, it's cool bro! I got this," Taj says as he continues to get his paws free. "G-Guess I got a strong strip, hehe." He eventually gets free and ends up stumbling into another student. Unfortunately, it was someone the hyena's been trying to avoid.

  
  


“Yo! Watch where you’re going you--Oh? Well, look who we got here boys. It's our old pal Nyani and his fat cat boyfriend! Sheesh, what are you? Some kind of feline freak!?” Draven snarked as he and his entourage approach the two mammals.

  
  


Nathan tells Taj to get behind him as the larger feline gets into a defensive stance and stares down the aardwolf. “Listen Draven, today’s not a good time to mess with me and my bro. So, if you have any kind of common sense left in that so-called brain of yours, you’d walk away and we can go on with our day.”

  
  


“Aww! The big dumb lion is trying to protect his little dirty hyena! How sweet,” He mocked with a chuckle. “Look Furaha, I ain’t got no beef with you. However, my boys and I have a score to settle with Nyani over there,” he says as he nods at the hyena and cracks his knuckles.

  
  


“Not happening Draven…” Nate growled fiercely. “So for the last damn time, get the hell away from us, and walk away. Or else I’m gonna give you a reason to fear us lions.”

Instead of doing what he was told, Draven grew a toothy grin and walked slowly towards Nathan with devious intentions. He soon gets all up and personal in the feline’s personal space and says the following: “Perhaps I didn’t make myself very clear Furaha; I’m going to beat that hyena to a bloody pulp and make sure he knows his place around here. And I’m not gonna let some big, stupid, smelly, full-of-his-own-prideful-bullshit tell _ME_ what to do! So, be a good pussycat and run along.” he backs away from him with a smug grin on his muzzle and the feeling of satisfaction. That is until…

  
  


“How about you make like a scared weasel and scurry your ass back into the dark pit you came from!” Taj exclaimed with confidence as he came from behind Nathan.

  
  


Draven stopped in his tracks as his facial expression changed from smug to angry in a matter of seconds. “You got some balls Nyani, I’ll give you that, but…” he charges at the hyena as he prepares to strike him. “...Can you beat me in a fight!?”

_As I prepare to get my ass handed to by Draven, I felt this loud and sudden ringing in my head. It kinda felt like a migraine...except it gave off a tingling sensation in my mind...like something was telling me to “WATCH OUT!!”. Also, it felt like everyone and everything around me was moving slower than usual and I was the only mammal walking at normal speed! And before I knew it, I held my paw out in the direction of Draven’s fist and…_

“What the hell?!” is all the aardwolf could say as he noticed that his punch was intercepted by a flabbergasted Taj.

  
  


_“Did that just happen? Did that seriously just happen!? I actually blocked a punch from Draven Salerno...Oh, my god! I blocked a punch from Draven...yep, I’m screwed.”_ Taj thought as he tries to process the current situation at hand.

  
  


Soon enough, members of Draven’s group, Nathan, and a handful of students begin to mutter among themselves and wonder which of the two predators were gonna make the next move. All Taj could do at the moment was give a nervous grin as he didn’t mean to attract this must attention nor get into a fight with his long-time school bully. Especially after he promised to stay out of trouble and be a good student again; unfortunately, life and destiny had other plans for him.

  
  


“Look Draven, how about we talk about this? Predator to Predator? What do you say?” he asked cautiously as he wanted this confrontation to be over and done with quickly.

Draven scoffed in disgust before saying, “I’d say, kiss my ass, rot in a hole, and piss off! Oh, I’ve also heard about your gramps...he was an idiot for getting himself killed. It’s also too bad he’s not here to see you get pounded.” and ending it with a crooked smile.

  
  


After hearing that harsh statement about his late grandfather, Taj had to use every inch of willpower to keep himself from lunging at the aardwolf and tearing him apart. However, that didn’t stop a few tears from escaping and running down his cheeks as he begins to tremble. 

  
  


“Yo, are you seriously crying!? How pathetic-” but before Draven could finish his sentence, Taj would grab him by the arm and slammed him into one of the nearby lockers. As he attempts to regain his bearings, Draven would soon get a harsh surprise as he’s pinned to the locker by the now infuriated hyena.

“Don’t you ever...in your damn life...badmouth my grandfather again,” Taj growled with venom. “Or so help me, Salerno, I will make your life a living nightmare.”

“Pfft! So what? Because you’ve suddenly got stronger, decided to fight back, grow a backbone, and decided to get tough, that was supposed to intimidate me Nyani!? Face it. You’re nothing but a dirty-ass-freak-show and a huge waste of time to your crappy family and your species. I seriously don’t know why you keep-”

**_CRUNCH!!!_ **

Taj blindly delivered a powerful punch to a now dented locker, which was extremely close to Draven. This caused the latter to finally stop talking and show another side of him that he usually enjoys seeing in the eyes of his victims; total fear. He slowly looks over to his right and now sees the full-length damage to the locker, followed by a quick glance at Taj, who still looked pretty angry, backed away from him and begins to steady his breathing.

  
  


“You okay bro?” Nathan asked as he cautiously approached Taj. “If you want to talk about it, I’m all ears.”

  
  


“No. I’m fine,” Taj replied bluntly. “Look, I-I just want to be left alone right now. Okay? I need to clear my head.” he says as he pushes his ears into the back of his head and storms off

Nathan begins to follow the distraught hyena, but as he gets close to him and puts his paw on his shoulder, it gets smacked away. "Taj, just let me-"

"I SAID I WANT TO BE ALONE!! ALRIGHT!? SO PLEASE...just leave me alone…" 

  
  


“...Whatever you say bro...talk to you later…”

And with that, Nathan backed off from Taj and proceeded towards his next class, feeling a sense of sadness and failure for not being able to help his friend nor cheer him up during this tragic time in his life. Taj, on the other hand, disappeared into the crowd of mammals. Needing some time to cool off and figure out what’s happening to him.

_If there was an award for being the biggest asshole of a friend…I think I would have taken the top prize. Nathan meant well. Honestly. I was just under so much stress from everything that was happening at the time; between losing grandpa, tracking down his killer, and getting the hang of my new spider-powers, it can become overwhelming at times. Plus there was so much I can take before I practically exploded. However, there will always be a light to counter the darkness. I just got to power through it until the very end..._

Over by the football field, which was currently wet and practically riddled with mud puddles due to the rain from earlier, Taj was rapidly pacing back and forth on the bleachers as he attempts to make sense of all the recent events that have happened earlier; for one thing, he somehow got stuck to Nathan and couldn't get free at first. Secondly, he was surprisingly able to not only block Draven's punch but also easily slam him into a locker. It's usually the other way around as the much older aardwolf was stronger than him. And finally, he realizes that he had left a massive dent in one of the school lockers. Taj then thinks about how much trouble he'll get once his mom and the principal finds out about this incident, not to mention the guilt he feels for how he snapped at his friend earlier. 

"What the hell is happening to me!?" He exclaims as he wildly pulls on his mane. "I can suddenly stick to people, I can actually take on Draven in a fight, and I can…dent a locker with a single blow…?" He observes his paws for a moment, in hopes of finding an answer to these odd new abilities of his.

After closer observation, Taj begins to notice little micro-hairs growing out of his paw pads. He begins to freak out at this shocking revelation and unknowingly walks back towards the end of the bleachers and falls over the railings. Luckily, Taj was able to grip one of the bottom rails before falling onto the ground. "Too...damn...close…" Taj exhaled in relief as he was glad to still be alive and not laying flat on the pavement below. "Now for my next objective; getting the hell down without breaking my legs," he says as he dangles a few feet from the ground. "I mean, I could jump and make a graceful landing...or risk miserable pain. Very. Miserable. Pain." He sighed, knowing that he was out of options and his day was only gonna get worse from here. After a few more moments of contemplating a decision, Taj has decided to go for the jump. He starts to sway his body back and forth until he gained enough speed and momentum for the leap. Once that was done, he launches off the rails, followed by a backflip, and finally a slightly rough landing to the ground.

"Woah...that was...Woah.." The teenage hyena was caught off guard by this shocking new revelation; he took a second to regain his bearings and finally process everything that's been happening to him as of late. But, suddenly that loud ringing in his head came back. This time in a somewhat lower tone. He carefully looked over to his right shoulder and notices a small black-brownish spider crawling on him. The young hyena grabbed the tiny arachnid by the tips of his paws and looks at it fondly before putting it back on the ground.

"There you go little fella, run along now."

  
  


As he watches the spider disappear into the thick and wet grass, the sound of the school bell ringing snapped Taj out of his trance and back into reality. Thus, making him realize that he was late for his next class.

"Goddamn it!" He cursed to himself as he went to go retrieve his backpack from the bleachers. "Can't tell if this day is getting worse or weird."

* * *

**_Somewhere in the Sherwood District..._ **

An all-black SUV was driving through the neighborhood, passing multiple businesses and the local elementary school. Inside the vehicle was four different mammals. Three of them were predators and the last one was a prey; on the driver's seat was a brown grizzly bear who donned a blue sweater, a pair of tan khaki pants, and a black beret. He had a calm and cool expression on his face, which indicated that he had nothing to worry about. Sitting next to him in the passenger seat was a black striped rabbit who wore a more traditional business suit and had a very serious demeanor. He was wearing a pair of shades while polishing his handgun. Finally, in the backseat was a middle-age fox couple who were in the middle of admiring one another; the male fox was wearing a dark green jacket with the hood down and a pair of blue jeans and the female fox was wearing a black leather jacket with a pink blouse under it, a pair of black leggings with magenta lines on the side, and a pair of punk earrings.

"You still look ravishing to this very day my love~," the male fox says as he gently rubs the vixen's cheek.

The female fox returned her husband's gesture with a light kiss before saying, "You've been saying that ever since we were teenagers. And yet, every time you say it, it sounds oh so sweet and lovely."

"You never fail to fall for my words of love…" he says softly.

  
  


"Oh, Robin…"

  
  


But before they could go any further with their flirting, the grunt sound of the striped rabbit clearing his throat got their attention. "If you two are done playing teenage sweethearts--we've arrived back at Headquarters and Director Winter is awaiting our arrival."

The SUV pulled into an underground parking lot and parked into a spot with a 'Reserved' sign in the front and a large blue circle in the middle. Once the vehicle was parked, the circle starts to light up and the platform descends into the lower levels, and they were soon in a black-and-blue lit tunnel; the four mammals exit out of the vehicle and proceeded down the hall until they've reached an elevator door. 

The grizzly bear pushed the button for the elevator and looked back at his colleagues. "Marian, promise me that you won't say anything rude, sassy, or snarky towards the director. You're already on very thin ice with her and she's still pretty pissed off from the last mission. And Rob, for your sake, please keep your mouth shut! Or at least think before you say something stupid. I can't always save you from her wrath."

"I won't make any promises Johnny," Marian replied. "Besides, the _Ice Queen_ herself is starting to push my buttons…"

"I'm with Marion on this one John," Robin added. "Also, I can't help what comes out of my mouth! Plus, I'm just trying to be an honest fox."

"Let's just get this over with…" The striped rabbit groaned as he dropped his ears and pinched the bridge of his nose.

And with that, the doors to the elevator opened and the four mammals walked inside without another word or comment. However, that silence didn't last long as the striped rabbit turned on the communicator in his ear.

"This is Agent Jack Savage reporting in: Mission was successful and all team members are accounted for."

**_"-Roger that Agent Savage! I'll inform Director Winter of your mission status. Also, I'd tread lightly on what you say to her--she's not in a very 'humble' mood today.-"_ **

"Noted. Thanks for the info, Ron! Agent Savage out."

The elevator ride lasted for another minute until the doors opened and revealed a massive room full of multiple monitors, computers, and various mammals in business suits or tactical attire scrambling all over the place. In the center of the lively room was a female arctic fox; she wore a light blue sports top, a pair of black leggings with a pistol holster on her left hip, and a tactical earpiece in her right ear. She looks back and notices the lapin and his group approach her with a content mind and a serious look on her face.

"Alpha team…It seems you four made it back in one piece. For once," she stated.

"Indeed we did," Agent Savage replied. "We had a few hiccups along the way, overall, the mission was a complete success."

"Ok, for the record…" Robin was about to give his say on the matter but was immediately shot down by a double glare from Agent Savage and John. "Nevermind then."

Director Winter rolls her eyes in annoyance before returning her attention to the main monitor. "Anyways, we got an update from our secret operative over at Alphasun Industries. She's been keeping a close eye on Burnell and this 'Secret Project' of his. Plus it turns out this little 'project' is a cover-up for some type of mutant bio-weapon."

Agent Savage's ears went flat as he begins to rub his temples before asking, "how bad is this potential bio-weapon? And can we stop it somehow?"

"Very bad, this weapon has the potential to either mutate every mammal in the city into some kind of hellish monster or kill them from the inside. How do we stop it? That's a whole other story,"

  
  


"In other words; you absolutely have no clue for how to stop this imposing threat?" Marian stated bluntly. "How typical,"

  
  


"Marian…" Robin warned as he knew how blunt and honest his wife can be. Unfortunately, his warning was ignored as the two vixens began to argue. This was not going to end well.

  
  


"I'm this damn close to getting rid of you Loxley!" Director Winter threatened with venom. "You always question my authority and leadership here at the MCB!!"

  
  


"Get rid of me? Get rid of me!? I'd like to see you try. You'd be a fool to fire me," Marian retorted. "And in case you forgot, your majesty; I'm one of your best fighters and hackers."

  
  


"I can always find replacements…" Director Winter growled. "And if anything, I don't have to hear any more of your goddamn-snarky-ignorant-insulting-loud-ass comments!!! And I'm sick of it!"

Marian gave the arctic fox a very sarcastic smile before replying, okay _Ice Bitch,_ how about you get off your high horse you call, 'authority', and take my batons, and shove them right up your-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!! BOTH OF YOU!!! **"** Agent Savage exclaimed with great force and anger in his voice.

Everyone in the room went completely silent; Robin and John stood in complete silence. Unsure of what to do next. _Should we say something? Or stay out of it and watch what happens?_ Luckily for the two mammals, they didn't have to wait that long. Agent Savage took the next 20 seconds to calm his racing rabbit heart and composed himself before telling off his boss and team members for their immature behavior. Once that was done, he takes off his shades and looks up at the two taller mammals.

"Listen, I get that things are frustrating at the moment and you two want nothing more than to be rid of each other. But this--this constant bickering between you two needs to either end or at least be put on hold until we deal with the bullshit with Burnell! Alright!? For christ's sake, we're supposed to be working together! As a team! As a unit! Is that too much to ask?"

  
  


Director Winter and Marian didn't agree on a lot of things. In fact, there were times that the two female mammals wanted to beat the living hell out of each other. However, there were times where they had to make compromises, and this was one of those times; the agency had a potential crisis in their paws and they need to put aside their differences if they want to save Zootopia from a soon-to-be global catastrophe. 

"Alright, fine," Director Winter sighed in defeat. "The mission and the citizens of Zootopia come first."

  
  


"I guess you make a point," Marian begrudgingly agreed. "So, what's next?"

Director Winter turned back to the monitor and began to rapidly type on the keyboard. She then uploads a video feed from the other day. The video was of a teenage hyena wearing a black hoodie sneaking in and out of Alphasun Industries. "Find out who this kid is and bring him in for questioning."

"But why him? He's just a kid," said Agent Savage. "For all we know, he could've got lost and ended up in the wrong place."

  
  


"Ah, Skippy, Skippy, so young and yet so naive," Marian mocked playfully as she pulled out a tablet from her jacket. "I hacked the little hooligan's phone and it seems that he took some incriminating photos of the place. Some of these can be used to put Burnell away for a long time."

  
  


"If only it was that easy dear," said Robin. "Remember, that bastard has a pretty damn good lawyer, and enough money to get him a bloody slap on the wrist and a jail-free-card! Plus he's prone to violence, which means he can and will kill ANYONE that either gets in his way-"

  
  


"Or attempt to expose him and his company…" Marian finished for him, realizing that the adolescent hyena and his family are in potential danger. "We need to find that kid! Now!"

  
  


"Did you find anything else on his phone? Something useful?" Director Winter asked in a serious tone.

Marian fiddled around on her tablet for a bit until she found the specific files about the hyena.

  
  


"I got it; His name is Tajani Nyani! 16-years-old, attends St. Zoo High, a bit of a troublemaker, and he so happens to live in Savannah Central." 

Director Winter nodded in response as she crossed her arms and looked back at the monitor with newfound determination and curiosity. "Alright, Mr. Nyani; time to find out if you're friend or foe."

* * *

_After this morning's "antics" with Draven and my powers coming into full effect, all I wanted to do at the time was to bury myself in a deep ass hole and rot for eternity. There was also the fact that I still owed Nate an apology for how I snapped at him too…he practically avoided me for almost the whole day. It wasn't until lunch that we were able to talk things out. He was willing to forgive me, luckily, and he also understood that I just needed some time to be alone and grieve. Later on that day, I finally figured out what had happened to me; my science class and I were watching an educational video about--yep, you guessed it. Spiders! Ha! Talk about irony! Anyway, the video had all the boring stereotypical school facts and the only part of the video that piqued my interest was this unique looking spider. You're probably wondering "why this particular spider and not the others?" Because it's the same one that bit me. It was also 'created' by those freaks at Alphasun Industries. The arachnid itself had modified strength, agility, a higher sense of hearing, and some pretty strong webbing. I actually have all of these, well, except for the webbing. More on that later. After this little revelation, I realized that I could use these new powers of mine to not only keep my neighborhood safe but to also avenge my grandfather and make his killer suffer._

It was finally after school and most of the student body and faculty have dispersed for the day. As for Taj, he stayed behind to work on some 'homework' in the school's science lab; after learning the origin of his powers and where the mysterious spider came from, the teenage hyena decided to dig more into those secret files he took from the other day.

  
  


One of the files had multiple pieces of papers labeled _'_ **_Project: Webs'_ **with the schematics for a wrist-mounted device and a scientific web formula. "Oh yeah, this will definitely work," Taj says confidently as he gathers all the right materials within the school's lab and gets to work immediately.

Two hours have passed and after a few miscalculations and some minor 'sticky' mishaps, Taj was successful in creating an adhesive web-like substance. He then proceeds to pour the artificial 'webbing' into multiple test tubes and carefully places them into his backpack. But, before the adolescent hyena can continue any further his phone begins to ring; his mom was calling him.

"Hey, mom, what's up?" He answered.

_"Tajani, where are you? It's getting late!"_

"Yeah, it is. Sorry about that mom. I stayed after school to do some extra homework." 

_"It's alright...but you know I have to work late tonight, and you should already know the rules._

"No being out late, be home before 10:00 pm, look after grandma, and make sure I get all of my homework done, I know the drill mom."

_"I'm serious Tajani!! I can't handle another heartbreak or any kind of stress right now!! With your grandfather gone...it's gonna be even harder to pay all the upcoming bills and our douchebag of a landlord just raised the rent and-"_

"Mom! Mom! I get it...I miss grandpa too...If it means anything; I'll look for an after school job to help bring in some extra money. It's the least I can do…"

_"That's very kind of you baby, but I don't want you to get overwhelmed from working a job and trying to finish your High School education. Plus I'm worried about your grandmother...she still hasn't eaten anything or spoken a word since this morning."_

  
  


"She's probably still in shocked mom; it's a lot for her to take in. I mean, she and grandpa were together for almost 30 years. Their love for one another was unforgettable....but now it's been shattered."

  
  


_"Maybe so, but she's not alone. She still has me, you, and the rest of our neighbors looking out for her. But listen, I need to get off now and meet up with the mortician; we're going to try and have a small and proper funeral for your grandfather…as for you, Tajani, I need you to head straight home and be with your grandmother. She needs some company and I don't feel comfortable leaving her at the house by herself...can you do that for me, dear?"_

  
  


"Sure thing mom...I was about to head out anyway. I'll be home in about 10-15 minutes. No distractions or any kind of shortcuts. I promise."

  
  


_"That's all I ask of you Tajani. I'll be home soon, okay? I love you."_

  
  


"Okay and love you too...bye."

Once he hung up the phone, Taj proceeds to clean up his work area, and stuff all the files and papers back into his backpack in a hastily matter. While this was happening, a shadowy figure was watching him from a nearby building rooftop; they were wearing an all-black jumpsuit and a pair of night-vision goggles. They then press their hooves onto a communicator in their ear.

"I found the kid, Director. He seems to be carrying a file full of important documents. Permission to engage and capture?"

**_"-Negative, Agent. We're still not sure if he's a potential threat or not. Just keep a close eye on him for now and await further orders.-"_ **

  
  


"Yes, Ma'am! Agent Prince out."

* * *

_Okay, let's fast-forward this origin story a bit. Once I left the school, I headed straight for my house; thank god Draven and his buddies hadn't decided to come out and play. I could've easily kicked their asses and had them running away with their bruised egos--okay, getting off-topic. I eventually got home and immediately noticed that something was wrong…._

"Hey, Grandma! I'm home!" Taj called out as he closes the front door and approaches the living room. "It's me, Tajani." He continues in hopes of getting a response from the elder matriarch; unfortunately, he was met with continuous silence.

Taj walks further into the room and soon notices his grandmother laying on the couch while clutching a picture of her late husband; she was silently crying to herself as she listened to classical music on the radio and letting her tears stained the photo of Jamal and onto her nightgown. However, this doesn't go unnoticed as her grandson walks over to her with a concerned look on his face. "Hey, Grandma..."

Imara slowly sat up from her spot and wiped away her tears before replying, "Hello Tajani...how are you, sweetie?"

"I'm managing grandma," Taj answered in a mildly neutral tone. "But what about you? Mom said you haven't eaten anything all day and you've been quiet ever since this morning. We're worried about you!"

Imara sighed and shrugged at this statement as she laid the picture down on the coffee table, patted a spot next to her on the couch, signaling Taj to take a seat, and finally turning the radio down. The teen hyena soon takes a seat next to his grandmother as he gives her his undivided attention and awaits her answer. But, instead of a response, Imara reaches over to Taj and gives him a warm and sympathetic hug.

"I appreciate you and your mother's concern Tajani, but I will be okay. I just need some time to process everything…although I'll never see your grandfather again, his heart and memories will live on with us. And...and…" she couldn't continue as her emotions got the best of her, and she began to sob once more. "...I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, I thought I could handle talking about Jamal without crying again…"

  
  


“It’s okay, grandma,” Taj sympathize as he continued to hug her while keeping his own emotions under wraps. “Take all the time you need and let it all out.”

Imara continued to cry for another 10 minutes until she was well and stable enough to keep talking about Jamal and all of the memories she had with him; from their first date, their wedding, and even the births of both their daughter and their grandson. The female hyena had a lot more stories and memories to tell about her late husband, but she decided to hold off on telling anymore and saving the rest for the funeral.

  
  


_Well, on the bright side; I was finally able to get her to talk again and let out some pent up emotions out of her system. However, this won't be the last time that I'll see or hear my grandmother cry...moving on from that, I retreated into my room, where I was finally able to finish stitching up my disguise and adding some finishing touches to it. Once that was done, I proceeded to work on my first prototype web-shooters; who knew grandpa's old wristwatches would come in handy…*sigh* thanks, grandpa. You're always looking out for me. Now for the next part of this story: Avenge Grandpa Jamal and bring justice to my family._

* * *

**_The Next Day…_ **

Over in Tundratown, a local market was being robbed by a black panther and a grey wolf; both predators were armed with a pistol and a shotgun respectively as they were prepared to kill anyone that stood in their way. ZPD or not.

"H-Hurry up with the money! I'm freezing!" The panther exclaimed as he tries to keep himself warm while keeping his gun pointed at a sobbing polar bear employee.

"I-I'm going as fast as I can," the female polar bear replied in a panicked tone as she continues to stuff a handful of bills into a duffle bag. "Just don't hurt anyone…please."

  
  


"Tch! A little late for that bitch!" He smirked devilishly as he nodded at his partner who was dragging the dead bodies of a male moose, a female snow leopard, and a teenage reindeer to the center of the market. "You're gonna be next if you don't hurry the hell up!!"

  
  


The polar bear covered her mouth in total shock and horror as she recognized the pile of dead mammals; two of them were her fellow employees and the young stag was her next-door neighbor's son. But before she can shed any more tears, she adds the rest of the money from the register into the bag and gives it to the cat robber with slight hesitation. "T-That's all the money! I swear! Now, will you p-please let me go?" 

"Sure thing sweetheart," the panther says as he grabs the bag and slightly lowers his gun. "But one more thing though…"

"W-What!?"

**_Bang! Bang!_ **

"Next time; pick up the damn pace. I don't do slow and whiny transactions."

"C'mon, let's get out of here before the cops show up!" The wolf robber exclaimed as he bolted out of the market and into the snowy streets of Tundratown. "I know a spot where we can hide until the heat dies down."

"Lead the way!" said the panther as he sprinted after his canine partner with the bag of stolen cash in his paws.

As the two predators were making their getaway, the now-injured polar bear employee struggled to reach for her phone while trying to stop the bleeding from her gunshot wounds; she was going in and out of consciousness as she dialed 911.

_"911, what's your emergency?"_

"H-Help! We've been robbed! Everyone's dead...a-and I don't know what to do! Agh…

_"Okay, ma'am! I'm gonna need you to calm down and stay with me. Help is on the way!"_

* * *

**_Meanwhile..._ **

Taj was in his bedroom making some final adjustments to his prototype web-shooters while listening for any crime alerts on his phone; he was able to rewire his device into the ZPD's data and convert it into a makeshift police scanner. As he's putting the last screw in his web-shooter, Taj's phone begins to go off.

**_-Dispatch! This is Chief Bogo of Precinct 1; all available units head to Tundratown! We found the two wanted fugitives that were behind the Savannah Grocery Store robbery! They're hiding out in an industrial warehouse near the docks. Be mindful, these guys are armed and dangerous; Proceed with caution and watch your partner's back.-_ **

"That's all I needed to hear," Taj stated as he was already dressed in his disguise; he then proceeds to strap on his web-shooters and puts his goggles on as he dives out of his bedroom window and fires a web at a nearby light pole. "Time to take these bastards down...once and for all." It took a minute for the teenage hyena to get used to his new form of 'transportation' as he was new to this and wasn't getting a lot of speed or momentum from his swinging; he missed a couple of light poles along the way and crashed into three bushes, one car, and nearly collided with a city bus. He eventually gets the hang of it and repeats the following phrase as a reminder, "Thwip! And release! Thwip! And release! Thwip! And release!" He continues this a few more times until he was able to keep up with the police cruisers heading for Tundratown.

Once he swung into the much colder district, Taj landed on a nearby snowy rooftop and took a few minutes to catch his breath and check his surroundings. Unfortunately, he couldn't see anything due to the district having a mini snowstorm and the gust from the cold wind was beginning to fog up his goggles.

"Okay, Taj, you need to find that warehouse before you become Zootopia's first hyenacicle," He stated to himself. "Now where did those cops go?"

He soon gets his answer in the form of multiple gunshots going off from a few blocks over. 

"Bingo!" Taj begins his descent as he sprung a web and swings towards the action. As Taj gets closer to where the commotion was coming from, he soon notices first-hand on how serious the situation was; several ZPD officers were taking cover behind their vehicles as they attempt to retaliate against the two gunmen who were shooting through the warehouse's upstairs windows. Only a few officers were wounded while some provided covering fire for others to get closer to the building and hopefully get inside to disarm and apprehend the wanted criminals.

Taj was taken aback by the chaos and was having second thoughts about coming here and getting revenge for his grandfather. But there's no turning back now. He came too far to just run away and let these murderers get away yet again. Enough was enough. It's time to end this. "Here goes nothing!" Taj says as he notices an opening on the roof and dives directly into it.

Once he was inside, the teenage hyena stuck to the shadows as he begins to approach the two larger predators, and plots a strategy on how to take them both down.

However, this doesn't go unnoticed as the wolf stops shooting and begins to pick up on Taj's scent. "Something's not right…"

"What's up? Why'd you stop shooting?" The panther asked as he ceased his shooting for a moment.

"We're not alone," the wolf replied as he begins to reload his shotgun and proceeds to aim it in the supposedly empty room. "Whoever you are...you might as well come out...unless you want rounds of lead through your skull."

  
  


"You need to lay off the Morrigan man…" the panther says as he goes to investigate with his gun tightly gripped between his paws and his finger resting on the trigger. "I don't see anything or anyone. I think you're just hallucina-AHHHH!!!" He shrieked as he was being pulled into the shadows.

"Ah, shit!" The wolf cursed to himself as he begins to panic. He looks around the room in a frantic manner as he tries to figure out who or what took his partner. "W-Who's there!? Show yourself!" He exclaimed with frustration and terror in his voice.

When he didn't get an answer, he foolishly decides to shoot all over the room in hopes of killing the mysterious intruder. He continues to shoot until he was completely out of bullets and options. "Screw this!" He says as he tosses his shotgun to the side and attempts to make a run for the exit. However, his escape was cut short as he got reeled back into the center of the room.

"P-Please! Don't hurt me!" The wolf pleaded as he begins to tremble with fear. "I'm just misunderstood."

  
  


"Bullshit," Taj calls out as he slowly walks out of the shadows and approaches the timid wolf. "You're nothing but a coward, a liar, and a goddamn murderer!"

The canine criminal takes a good look at Taj's outfit and begins to laugh. "Isn't it a little early for Halloween kid? I mean look at you, you're just some scared, confused, stupid, and idiotic kid who's completely...out of his league!!" He pulls out a pocket knife and lunges at Taj in top speed. However, the teenage vigilante was faster as he successfully dodged the attempted attack, followed by a backhand slap, a quick right hook, and a blow to the stomach to finish it up.

"Had enough asshole…?" Taj panted with a bit of a growl in his voice. "Cause I'm just getting started."

Without a second thought, Taj snatches the wolf up by his throat with his newfound strength and proceeds to punch him multiple times in the face, followed by pounding his body to the ground like a rag doll. "N-No more…please..." The wolf pleaded as he begins to cough up blood and nearly succumbed to his injuries. But alas, his pleads weren't heard as Taj puts his focus on the window that was a few feet from them and a dark idea began to form in his mind; he was going to let the bastard fall to his death. He drags the injured canine towards the window while ignoring the continuous sounds of him panicking and begging for mercy.

"L-Look kid, how about I make you a deal?" The wolf offered, not wanting to suffer any more pain. "If you let me go...I won't rob or kill anyone ever again and we can pretend this encounter never happened. So what do you say?"

  
  


"Sorry, I don't make deals with heartless murderers," Taj replied in a cold tone.

**_CRASH!!!_ **

With so much force and strength within his body, Taj slammed the wolf robber through the warehouse window. Completely shattering it, and dangling the more frightened criminal by his throat, and having several ZPD officers watch in total shock from below. The wolf himself begins to hyperventilate as he starts to believe that this freakishly strong kid was going to let him fall and die a horrible death. That is until…

"ZPD!!! DON'T MOVE!!" Two ZPD officers burst into the room with their guns aimed at the two mammals; the first officer was a female rabbit and her partner was a male red fox.

"Step away from the window or else we'll shoot!" The rabbit officer ordered.

* * *

**_Now..._ **

_And we're back...you guys still with me? Good. After I gave these two crooks the mother of all beatdowns, I was about ready to let this murderer eat snow-covered pavement down below. But suddenly, something came over me at that moment and my anger was starting to dwindle…_

As Taj prepared to drop the wolf robber, a familiar voice began to replay in his mind.

_What happened to you…? You used to be a good boy…_

"G-Grandpa?" He muttered softly.

_I need you to make me a promise; be a good boy again, look for the good in others…watch out for your mom and grandma…_

Taj starts trembling as he begins to loosen his grip on the wolf, followed by slowly backing away from the window and tossing the canine criminal, who was gasping for air, to the side. He then falls to his knees and hugs himself tightly as the voice left him one last reminder.

_I love you Taj...take care of yourself…_

  
  


"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" Taj curses thrice as he punched the ground with such force and frustration. "Why...why did you have to go to that damn store…!?"

Nick and Judy lowered their guns as they checked over the two large predators before placing the handcuffs on them. While they were doing this, Judy radio's Chief Bogo about the capture and status of the two robbers. However, Nick noticed something was off; the mysterious orange and blue wearing vigilante was gone. He vanished without a trace.

* * *

**_Back in Savannah Central…_ **

After swinging for 25 minutes, Taj finally made it back to his house. He quietly crawled up the wall and back into his bedroom, then he changes out of his disguise and puts on a pair of black shorts and a blue t-shirt before heading downstairs to get a drink of water before heading off to bed. Although, for Taj, he was not expecting to have company when he noticed the living room lights come on; he turns around to see his mom and grandma on the couch wearing bathrobes with equally angry and concerned looks on their faces.

"Listen, I can explain-" Taj started, but was cut off by his mom's paw.

"Where the hell have you been!?" Angela asked in an irritable tone. "It's almost midnight, I had to cancel my shift because YOUR grandma told me that you just up and disappear without a trace! And she was left here by herself. Honestly, Tajani...what has gotten into you...!?"

Taj crossed his arms and kept his head down as a sign that he didn't want to talk or answer the question.

"We're waiting Tajani…" Imara pressed as she was emotionally exhausted and stressed.

  
  


"Tajani...Campbell...Nyani...I am talking to you!" Angela growled, beginning to lose her patience.

  
  


Taj finally looked up at the two female hyenas with intense anger and tears in his eyes before saying, "I'm stressed mom!! That's what's gotten into me!! Okay!? I'm stressed because I'm constantly dealing with idiots at school, prey mammals still being scared of me, dealing with PTSD from my deadbeat father, and grandpa getting killed was the damn cherry on top…" Taj falls to his knees once more and finally releases all of the pent up anger and emotions he's kept inside of him. "IT'S NOT FAIR!!!" he shouted.

Angela's anger starts to simmer down as she finally realizes how much her son's been hurting. She goes over to him and embraces him in a tight motherly hug, and allows her elder child to cry on her shoulder and get all of his feelings out of his system. "Oh, Tajani...I'm so sorry baby…"

"I miss him, mom...I miss G-Grandpa…!" Taj expressed as he continues to sob.

  
  


"I know...I know…" Angela nodded as she tries not to cry herself. "...I miss him too…"

  
  


"It's my fault that he's gone," Taj sniffled. "If I hadn't been late...maybe he would've…"

"Shhh...shh...that's enough of that," Imara stated as she joins the hug and messages her grandson's mane. "It was not your fault. It never was. Your grandfather saved a lot of lives that night and he will be remembered as a savior and a loving member of this family."

  
  


Taj nodded as he continues to embrace the warm comfort from his mom and grandma; more tears were shed, pent up feelings were released, and the road to recovery for the Nyani Family was still a long way to go. With Jamal gone, Angela and Imara will have to work extra hard to make ends meet and to help support Taj. As for the teenage hyena himself, he still had a lot to learn, regarding his new powers. After his attempted revenge scheme almost got him killed or arrested, Taj knew that he had to find a better way to use his powers. Not for revenge, not for selfish gains, and definitely not for fame or glory. He needs to be something else...someone else...but before he could think any further, Imara suggested that they all should get some rest and start fresh in the morning.

* * *

**_A few days later…_ **

It was a quiet and boring Saturday over at the Savannah Central Station. Mammals of different species were commuting to different districts throughout Zootopia or even traveling to the tri-burrows. But on this particular day, things were about to get intense.

A massive armored truck pulled up to the entrance of the train station, wrecking nearby property and hitting anyone that stood in its way. Once the truck came to a complete stop, a group of mercenary mammals wielding rifles and semi-automatic weapons exit out of the vehicle and stood in a single file line, as if they were waiting for someone. "Here comes the boss! Look sharp!" A coyote mercenary ordered as he stood in the back entrance of the truck; a few seconds later, a large Bengal tiger exit out of the truck with a calm and neutral expression on his face. His wardrobe consisted of green combat pants, military-grade armor pads that covered his knees, titanium armor that covered his whole upper body, along with a stamp logo that says **"TNT"** on the left breastplate, duel arm gauntlets, a belt with grenades on one side and a detonator on the other, and in his paws was a fully-loaded tactical grenade launcher.

The tiger points his weapon at the entrance and fires it. The grenade made an impact and caused a massive explosion, sending a few mammals flying or running and screaming for cover. Soon the tiger and his group of mercenaries proceed inside the station where they get stopped by two security guards.

"Hold it !" A hippo security guard says as he trains his gun on the group of soldiers. 

"Drop your weapons! And get down on the ground!" A cougar security guard added.

The tiger gives the two security guards a smug look before snapping his fingers, signaling two of his mercenaries, a cheetah and an Ox, to finish them off; the spotted feline disarmed the hippo with quick ease before breaking his arm and snapping his neck in one swift motion. The Ox overpowered the cougar with her natural strength and finishes the cat off with a fatal horn stab to the chest.

"Excellent work," the tiger complemented. "That'll teach them to NOT screw with the best."

  
  


The group of mercenaries proceeds further inside the station until they were standing in the center of the room. The tiger was the first to notice all of the confused and scared looks on everyone's faces; he enjoyed seeing the terror and fear from other mammals. To him, it was a sign of dominance, power, and total control. He then steps forward and begins to speak.

"Good Afternoon, ladies and gentlemammals!" He greeted formally. "How is everyone today?! Scared? Terrified? Afraid of dying? Good. That's just the way I like it." He says with a sinister grin.

The tiger playfully swings his grenade launcher around as he watched all of the mammals and their kits jump and flinch at the sight of the weapon. "Look at all of you, afraid of a mere little firearm like this. Perhaps I should introduce myself," he aims his grenade launcher at one of the trains and ignites it in a fiery explosion, killing anyone that was either inside or in the blast radius. "The name's Lieutenant Wendell Pinkerton, but you can call me...TNTiger! And welcome to my world."

**_To be continued..._ **


	5. Responsibility

**_-This is ZNN with Breaking News!!! With your host, Fabienne Growley and Co-Host, Peter Moosebridge._ **

  
  


**_-A group of mysterious mercenaries have taken over the Savannah Central Station and are holding multiple mammals hostage!_ **

  
  


**_-Reports have been stated that more than 30 mammals, including the security guards, are all dead. We also got confirmation that their leader is former Lieutenant of the Zootopia Military, Wendell Pinkerton, who now calls himself TNTiger; he was forcefully discharged after going awol and getting his squad killed in battle._ **

  
  


**_-Pinkerton was also a highly skilled soldier, due to his expertise in combat, weaponry, and explosives; be warned, he's possibly armed and extremely dangerous._ **

  
  


**_-We'll keep you all posted as this hostage crisis continues to develop. I'm Peter Moosebridge!_ **

**_-And I'm Fabienne Growley! From all of us here at ZNN, stay safe and stay vigilant._ **

* * *

Savannah Central Station was in utter chaos. Mammals were screaming, kits and babies were crying, and the group of mercenaries was shooting and pinning anyone that attempted to run or fight back. Wendell Pinkerton, now known as TNTiger, was enjoying the smell of smoke and burning blood as he checks over his grenades and gear for any scuffs or damage. However, his dreadful enjoyment was interrupted by the sound of police sirens blaring from a distance.

  
  


"Oh look, it's the party crashers," TNTiger groaned sarcastically. "Let's see what they want."

  
  


The tiger soldier bellowed a few of his mercenaries to his side as they watch several ZPD cruisers pull up to the scene; most of the officers took cover behind their vehicles as they had their guns trained on TNTiger and his men. "What seems to be the problem officers?" he asked in a sly tone

  
  


"Cut the bullshit Pinkerton," Officer Mchorn demanded, cutting to the chase. "Where are the hostages!?"

  
  
  


"What!? No hello? No good afternoon? Honestly, you cops are so rude and shallow," TNTiger sassed while rolling his eyes. "As for those 'precious' hostages of ours...they're safe...for now."

  
  
  


But, before the rhino officer could counter with a retort, the sounds of screaming and gunshots caught his and the other officers' attention. "...What have you done?" Is all he could manage to say at that moment.

  
  
  


"Hahaha! Let's just call it, collateral damage," he smirks as he takes out his grenade launcher and aims it at the group of officers and their vehicles before shouting the following orders, "LIGHT EM UP BOYS!!!"

  
  


The two mercenaries, a coyote and a jaguar open fired on all of the ZPD officers. Both predators were highly skilled marksman as they were able to gun down a few of the smaller officers without missing a beat or breaking a single sweat; this also caused most of the larger officers to either take cover, try to return fire, or think of a new strategy. Officer Mchorn and Officer Delgato were sitting ducks as they were dangerously close to the shooters' sights and knew that one false move could end with one of them being fatally shot.

  
  


"We need to call for backup!!!" Officer Delgado exclaimed in between shots. "If we keep going like this--we're all gonna end up dead!"

  
  


Officer Mchorn understood the situation they were in and immediately makes the call. "DISPATCH!!! THIS IS OFFICER MCHORN!!! WE'RE TAKING HEAVY FIRE AT SAVANNAH CENTRAL STATION AND A FEW OF OUR OFFICERS HAVE BEEN SHOT!!! SEND BACKUP!! REPEAT!! SEND. BACKUP."

* * *

**_Meanwhile_ ** _ … _

_ Okay! Update time: mom, grandma, and myself have spent the last few days with each other as a family to help cope with the loss of my grandfather and the results...were perfect. While we're not 100% feeling better, it's a start, and that's all that matters. Also, I've gotten better with both my powers and web-slinging! Not to mention, I finally dared to ask Nate out on a date. Well, kinda. Uh, see for yourself… _

  
  


_ "Yo-yo! It's Nate!" _

  
  


"Hey, man! I-I have a proposition for you…"

  
  


_ "Fire away bro!" _

  
  


Taj takes a deep breath and prepares for what he's about to say. "I was wondering...would you like to go out sometime? Just the two of us, nobody else, you know? A chill and relaxing night between two dudes."

  
  


_ "So, like a date…?" _

  
  
  


"Yes! I-I mean no! I mean…"

  
  
  


_ "It's cool bro! And the answer is yes!" _

  
  
  


"G-Great! Listen, I was thinking-"

  
  
  


**_Bzzz-Bzzz! Bzzz-Bzzz!_ **

  
  


But before Taj could finish what he was saying, his phone's built-in police scanner goes off.

  
  


"Aw man--uh, sorry Nate! I gotta go! Can I call you back?"

  
  


_ "No worries dude. We'll chat later. Seeya!" _

  
  


"Yeah...bye."

  
  


After begrudgingly ending the call with his friend, Taj proceeds to check his phone's police scanner and replays the following message:

  
  


**_-ALL UNITS!! ZPD OFFICERS ARE TAKING HEAVY FIRE FROM MULTIPLE HOSTILES AT SAVANNAH CENTRAL STATION!!! SEVERAL OFFICERS HAVE BEEN SHOT AND THEY ARE HOLDING HOSTAGES. WE NEED IMMEDIATE BACKUP AND PARAMEDICS ON THE DOUBLE!!!-_ **

  
  


Once the message ended, Taj sprinted towards a nearby alleyway and quickly whips out his disguise as he prepares to suit up. "It's hero time!"

* * *

**_Over at MCB Headquarters..._ **

Director Skye Winter was always one-step-ahead of both the ZPD and the criminals that she and her fellow agents were after. However, things were starting to get out of her control as the sudden terrorist attack over at Savannah Central has put the entire agency into total chaos and frenzy; multiple fields and desk agents were spitballing ideas and suggestions, left and right, and others were doing damage control by talking to the higher-ups on the phone. This left the arctic vixen feeling overwhelmed and stressed. That is until she finally put her foot down.

  
  


"EVERYONE BE QUIET!!!" she shouted in a commanding tone.

  
  


All of the agents in the room stood in complete silence as they gave their beautiful but stern leader their undivided attention and listened to what she had to say.

  
  


"Thank you...now, listen up! I'm fully aware of the situation over at Savannah Central Station and everything's gone to hell pretty fast," she stated bluntly. "However, we've dealt with terrorists and other manic threats in the past. This time won't be any different. So, I'm just gonna be honest and get straight to the point; we're in very deep shit and we need to pull it together. Right now, innocent mammals are getting slaughtered by a psychopath tiger and his army of mercenaries, the ZPD is getting their asses kicked, and we need to get in the fight and help! Am I clear!?"

  
  


All of the agents in the room saluted and nodded before replying with "MA'AM! YES, MA'AM!" As they await further orders from the arctic vixen.

  
  
  


"That's what I like to hear," Director Winter says with a confident smile on her face. "Now then, all team leaders; standby for roll call!" She turns over to the monitor and begins to type on the keyboard as multiple photos and files filled up the screen. Once that was done, she looks over at all of her agents and begins the roll call.

  
  


"Alpha Team! Rise up!" She sounds off.

  
  


_ "Alpha Team Leader: Agent Jack Savage! reporting for duty and awaiting your orders ma'am!" _

  
  


"Roger that, Beta Team! You're next!"

  
  


_ "Beta Team Leader: Agent Bambi Prince! Ready to roll out Director!" _

  
  


"That's what I'm talking about. Omega Team! How are we doing?

  
  


_ "Omega Team Leader: Agent Thumper! Ready to kick some ass!!" _

  
  


Director Winter nodded at the bold comment before responding with "Let's move it mammals! Go! Go! Go!" 

  
  


And with that, all of the MCB agents quickly went to their respective stations and began to gear up for the Savannah Central mission or provide intel and radio assistance within the base. While all of this was happening, Director Skye received a message from her undercover agent; as she's reading it, the arctic vixen begins to tear up and tremble as she couldn't bring herself to finish reading the message and decided to hastily toss her phone to the side and put her focus back on the mission at hand.

* * *

**_Back at Savannah Central Station…_ **

The ZPD Officers were still in a fierce shootout with TNTiger and his mercenaries. The armored feline had the upper hand as he fired multiple shots from his grenade launcher, causing massive explosions and destruction along the way.

  
  


"EVERYONE FALL BACK!! FALL BACK NOW!!" Mchorn shouted as he provided covering fire for his fellow officers who were running for cover. 

  
  


"These guys are relentless!" Delgado stated. "And where the hell is that backup?!" he exclaimed as he loads his last clip into his gun.

  
  


"Taking their sweet-ass time apparently!" Mchorn replied bluntly. "This is getting out of hand and-WATCH OUT!!!"

  
  


**_KA-BOOOM!!!_ **

  
  


A grenade was fired towards the two predator officers and their vehicles; the impact of the explosion sent Officer Mchorn and Delgado flying across the field, causing them to tumble until they were completely covered in blood, grass stains, and shrapnel debris all over their uniforms.

  
  


"Now that was entertaining!" TNTiger exclaimed with laughter as he clapped his paws before approaching the down officers. "Watching Zootopia's finest get taken down, so damn easy, no wonder this disgrace of a city is falling apart."

  
  


"You're full of shit, Pinkerton…!" Mchorn groaned as he struggled to get up.

  
  
  


TNTiger just stood there with an increasingly cruel smirk on his face as he sways his striped tail in a sly manner. He begins to walk away and says the following, "Blow their brains out and dispose of the bodies."

  
  


The two mercenaries did what they were told and proceeded to aim their weapons at Mchorn, Delgado, and the remaining ZPD officers that were still conscious. "On my mark," the coyote mercenary spoke up. "3...2…"

  
  


**_THWIP! THWIP!_ **

  
  


Suddenly, a string of webs grabbed and pulled the guns away from the now confused mercenaries.

  
  


"Who the hell!?" The jaguar mercenary exclaimed in a frantic tone.

  
  
  


"Really, guys! Guns?" A new voice asked. "Didn't your mothers ever teach you that it's rude to point? Or in this case--pointing dangerous weapons at unarmed officers."

  
  
  


"Look, Up there!!" The coyote mercenary pointed out as he noticed an orange and blue wearing hyena vigilante resting on one of the flag poles with the webbed-up firearms in his hand. "You're screwing with the wrong mammals punk!!"

  
  
  


"I'd beg to differ," says the vigilante as he leaped off the pole and quickly webbed up the two mercenaries onto the ground before checking up on the ZPD officers. "Now you two stay there and think about what you did." He gibed.

  
  
  


"Is everyone okay?" The vigilante asked as he held his paw out for Officer Mchorn. What he got instead was a hoof smack and a gun aimed at him.

  
  
  


"Back off freak!" Mchorn ordered as he slowly got up and kept his gun trained on the vigilante. Once that was done, he got a better look at the young hero's outfit and rudely scoffed at it. "What's with the getup?! You're some kind of costume chump from a comic book?"

  
  
  


The vigilante sighed, "Everyone's a critic. Also, you're welcome for saving your blue-wearing butts. And in case you haven't noticed; I'm actually one of the good guys! Plus I'm here to help!"

  
  


"Likely story," said Officer Delgado as he got up and dusted himself off. "How do we know that you aren't working for these guys?"

  
  


"Because I'm not gonna sit around and watch any more innocent mammals get hurt or killed," the vigilante replied bluntly as he poked Delgado's chest. "Now, if you excuse me, I got some hero work to do!" And with that, the vigilante shoots a web and swings off into the train station.

  
  


Officer Mchorn groaned and facepalms before saying, "Chief Bogo is gonna blow a gasket when he hears about this…"

As Taj continues to swing through the station, he begins to notice all of the dead bodies, piles of rubble, and trains engulfed in flames. This left the hyena vigilante feeling not only enraged but also sick to his stomach.  _ "These guys are monsters!"  _ He thought to himself,  _ "I need to take them down before anyone else gets killed." _

  
  


Despite the horrific and violent scene, Taj had to keep going and hunt down the remaining shooters, and their leader. Once he reached the center of Savannah Central Station, things became more intense; there were a handful of terrified hostages who were being watched at gunpoint by a few of the mercenaries. Some of them were prepared to open fire as a few of the hostages wouldn't stop panicking or couldn't get their children to stop crying or hollering.

  
  


"HEY!!! You either shut those damn brats up! Or I will!" Exclaimed the cheetah mercenary as he points his assault rifle at a raccoon mother and her group of kits. "All that crying is starting to piss me off!"

  
  
  


"They're scared! What did you expect?!" The raccoon mother retorted.

  
  
  


"Fine...I guess I'll shut all of you up then," He growled as he aimed his assault rifle at the raccoon family and prepares to gun them down. "Time to reunite you with your daddy!"

  
  
  


But before he could even pull the trigger, a sudden string of web forcefully pulled the spotted feline away and into the direction of Taj's awaited fist. Once he was knocked out, the other mercenaries put all of their attention and weapons on the hyena vigilante instead of the hostages. The Ox mercenary tilted her head in confusion as she tried to think of a question for the young vigilante and his oddly colored attire. "You, in weird clothes, what's with the costume?" She asked with a deep European accent.

  
  
  


"Well, I'm obviously a hero," Taj replied. "And I'm here to save the day and take you guys down."

  
  
  


"You? Taking  _ us  _ down?! In your dreams kid!" A ram mercenary exclaimed with an obnoxious chuckle.

  
  
  


While all of this was happening, an ocelot mercenary slipped to the side and proceeded to call someone on his communicator.

  
  
  


**_"-What the hell is it!? This better be important…-"_ **

  
  
  


"Sir, we have a very odd situation; some kid in his pajamas, who claims to be a hero, took down one of our boys and looks like a possible threat to our operation. What are your orders?"

  
  
  


**_-*sigh*... everyone's trying to play 'hero'. Change of plans! Get rid of the kid, kill the remaining hostages, and get the charges ready. I'm gonna blow this station sky high. However, if that kid somehow survives, leave him to me. Understand?"_ **

  
  
  


"Understood, sir! Over and out!"

  
  
  


With that out of the way, the small feline rejoined the rest of his group as they continued to keep their weapons drawn at the hyena vigilante. "Alright, listen up! Just got new orders from the boss; kill this freak and finish off the remaining hostages. He doesn't want any witnesses." He and the other mercenaries start firing at the vigilante, in hopes of finishing him off quickly. But they were sorely mistaken.

  
  


Thanks to his newfound agility and enhanced senses, Taj was able to dodge all of the oncoming bullets and proceeded to take each of the mercenaries out. He starts off by webbing up a wolf and warthog mercenary together and using them as a living wrecking ball as they unintentionally knock a few of their comrades down. Once that was done, Taj threw the webbed up mammals into a nearby wall and continues the momentum with a back kick towards an antelope mercenary that was coming from behind, followed by a roundhouse kick towards the ram mercenary, and wrapping it up with a quick strike towards the Ox mercenary. However, the hit had no effect.

  
  


"Ha! You call that punch!?" the Ox mercenary exclaimed with laughter. "This is how you punch…"

  
  


**_BAM!!!_ **

  
  


She delivered a fierce right hook towards Taj, in which, sent the young vigilante flying across the room. The punch left him feeling bruised and a bit shook up since this was his first time fighting a bigger and slightly stronger opponent. If he wanted to take this bovine down, Taj is going to have to think of a new strategy.

  
  
  


"Okay...you're a strong girl... _ big...scary... _ strong girl…" Taj panted as he tried to get a second wind.

  
  
  


"I'll show you big and scary!!" The ox mercenary huffed as she began to charge fiercely towards Taj. Hopefully skewing and finishing the wannabe hero for good. However, the young hyena had a crazy idea in his mind. He makes a running start towards a nearby pillar as the bovine soldier was quickly approaching him and he only had a limited amount of time and precision for this plan of his to work.

  
  


"I hope this works…" Taj muttered to himself as he sprinted up the pillar and followed up with a well-timed backflip as the Ox mercenary was seconds away from digging her horns into the young hyena's back. Once he was airborne, Taj, twirled his body into a mini spin as he fires two webs onto the bovine’s horns, followed by lifting her in the air as he lands on the ground and sending the mercenary crashing into the ground with a loud-

  
  


**_CRASH!!!_ **

  
  


The impact not only left the Ox mercenary unconscious and completely bruised, but it also left a massive dent on the ground. Taj then proceeds to wrap the massive mammal up in a web-like cocoon before checking himself over.

  
  
  


“Ugh...I’m gonna feel that in the morning,” he says as he rubs his shoulders. “Sheesh, what did she eat for breakfast? A giant bowl of iron-o’s?”

  
  


As he continues to check himself for any other bruises, wounds, or even some damage to his outfit, the ocelot mercenary attempts to make a run for it until his foot gets caught by one of Taj’s web and was immediately pulled back until he was held by the collar of his combat vest, and was face to face with the young vigilante. Instead of being scared and intimidated, the feline soldier had a more calm and smug look on his face. “Go ahead, punch my lights out! It’ll be worth seeing this damn city burn to the ground,” he says confidently. “It’ll be a glorious show to watch.”

  
  
  


“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Taj asked, trying to sound tough. “Also, what the hell are you, gun-wielding lunatics, up to? Because of your actions, a lot of innocent mammals are dead!”

  
  
  


The ocelot simply laughed at the young vigilante’s outburst as his words were just mere phrases that he’s heard over a million times and the fact that they don’t mean a damn thing to him. However, he got serious again and begins to talk once more.

  
  


“It’s adorable to watch you play the hero kid. I truly admire that. But you’re no match for our boss nor are you ready for what he’s got planned for this dumb city.”

  
  


“Try me” was all Taj said as he awaited the feline’s answer.

  
  
  


“A train just left a few minutes ago...chock full of foolish mammals, a few of our guys, including our boss, Oh! And a  _ very special  _ gift that goes  _ tick...tick...boom!”  _ the ocelot replied with a sly grin. “Clock’s ticking kid! Better get your ass in gear! Hahaha!!”

  
  


And with that, Taj webs up the ocelot and quickly swings off after the runaway train. This left the poor vigilante feeling overwhelmed and scared as this hostage situation just became dire and the fact that more innocent mammals are in danger.

* * *

**_Meanwhile with the MCB…_ **

Over on the eastern side of the massive train station, Agent Jack Savage and his teammates were perched at the top of the roof and was keeping a close eye on a group of mercenaries who are currently covering all the exits and windows around them. No one gets inside or outside. The agents knew it was complete suicide to drop in because of the number of hostiles with firearms, jeopardizing their mission along the way, and potentially getting a few of the hostages killed. Robin and Marian Loxley, also known as, Agents Hood and Maid, were wearing their mission suits as they await further orders from their team leader. However, the constant waiting was starting to make the two vulpines antsy for some action.

  
  


“Alright, Skippy,” Marian started. “I know we have to be smart about this, but, if we keep sitting here those blokes will get bored and start killing again.”

  
  


“I’m afraid she’s right Jack,” Robin added as he was checking his bow and arsenal of arrows. “The longer we stall, the faster Pinkerton and his men are close to accomplishing whatever the hell they’re doing. So, I suggest-”

  
  
  


“It doesn’t work like that Robin.” Agent Savage replied bluntly, “These guys are pros and were trained to shoot on sight. And another thing; we  _ ALL _ need to work together as a team! So no more solo heroics or dumb ideas without running it by me or Director Winter. Understand?”

  
  
  


“We understand.” Robin and Marian replied begrudgingly.

  
  
  


“You don’t gotta tell me twice,” said John as he adjusted his combat gloves and tactical vest. “I’m just ready to crack some skulls and get a good workout in.”

  
  
  


The grizzly bear was about to get his wish as their communicators began to go off with a voice message from the Director.

  
  


**_-Alpha Team, report! What’s your status?-_ **

  
  


“Agent Savage here. We’re in position and have spotted multiple hostiles here at the eastern entrance of the station, armed to the teeth, and they have hostages.”

  
  


**_-Any signs of Pinkerton or his second-in-command?-_ **

  
  


“Negative, last I checked, two of his best guys were taken down by some weirdo in a costume and were taken to custody by the ZPD.”

  
  


**_-Shit! Well, it’s better than nothing I guess. The ambulance and reinforcements have just arrived and are currently getting the entire station evacuated. In the meantime, I’ll keep looking for Pinkerton.-_ **

  
  


“Roger that! Good luck, Director Winter.”

  
  
  


**_-Oh, hey Jack?-_ **

  
  
  


“What is it?”

  
  
  


**_-Give those bastards hell-_ **

  
  
  


Agent Savage gave a confident smile as he took out his handgun from his jacket pocket and looked over towards Robin and says, “Robin, Call it!”

  
  


“I thought you never asked,” Robin smiled as he aimed a smokescreen arrow through an opening on the roof. He then proceeds to yell his famous catchphrase, “OO-DE-LALLY!!!” before letting the arrow fly onto the ground below, releasing a massive cloud of grey smoke that left every mammal dazed, confused, and completely blind.

  
  
  


“It’s showtime, mammals! All teams move in!” Agent Savage exclaimed through his communicator.

  
  
  


As Alpha Team and all of the other teams descended onto the smoke-filled room, all hell broke loose; Agent Maid used her years of acrobatics and combat training to disarm a zebra mercenary before thrashing him repeatedly with her batons. She then follows up with a double kick towards a duo of badger mercenaries who were coming at her from opposite ends with combat knives drawn and wrapping it up with a multi-strike takedown towards a horse mercenary. Once they were dealt with, Maid pressed on through the smoke, cleaning up the dirt on the way. Agent Hood was having his own fun as he fired a combination of lethal and non-lethal arrows at several mercenaries, leaving a few of them tied up, electrocuted, or instantly dead upon impact; despite the lack of vision, due to the smoke, Hood uses his keen senses of smell and hearing to his advantage. He uses this to get the drop on an elk mercenary before proceeding to choke him out by the handle of his bow and a light swing to the head for good measure, he then fires a putty arrow at a raccoon mercenary that was charging towards him from the right. The male vulpine gave his signature smirk before patting himself on the shoulder.

  
  


Within the smoke, a single rhino mercenary was on high alert as his squadmates were quickly taken out and subdued. Unsure if he was next or not, the large-horned mammal had his tactical rifle aimed and ready to fire.

  
  


**_-Alexi! Come in Alexi!-_ **

  
  


“Ah! It’s good to hear a familiar voice!” he exclaimed with relief, “Any sign of the other comrades!?”

  
  


**_-Negative, I can’t see a damn thing in this smoke! Do you see anyone!? Friend? Foe?-_ **

  
  


“Nyet,” he replied in his native tongue. “If I see a foe, I’ll shoot them on sight!”

  
  


“You sure about that buddy?” asked a familiar voice.

  
  


The rhino mercenary frantically aimed his gun around as he tried to find the source of the voice. Unfortunately, he was intercepted by an oncoming massive fist and then…

  
  


**_WHAM!!!_ **

  
  


Out of the smoke came a very satisfied Jonathon, or commonly known as, Agent Little, as he cracks his knuckles and looked down at the now unconscious mercenary. 

  
  


“And that makes my score: 7 takedowns,” he boasted confidently. “I’d like to see Rob top that!”

  
  


Right as he said that a panda mercenary, a goat mercenary, and a wolverine mercenary plopped to the ground with a taser arrow pierced onto their backs. “You were saying, big guy?” Agent Hood smirked. “I believe that’s 12 takedowns for me. Better luck next time!”

  
  
  
  


“You only got lucky because of your cute little bow and trick arrows!” Agent Little chuckled.

  
  
  
  


“It’s called years of practice my friend. You oughta try it sometime,” Agent Hood retorted

  
  
  


As the two teammates continue their banter, the sounds of multiple bodies being beaten and tossed out of the smoke and onto the ground caught the middle-aged fox and bear’s attention. Most of them were badly bruised and unconscious mercenaries. The next mammal to come out of the smoke was the sly, but fierce, Agent Maid who was swishing her tail in excitement while twirling her trusty batons in her paws. 

  
  


“Sorry boys,” she says with a bit of a smug. “I believe I’m the clear winner here. With a grand total of 18 takedowns! Bow to your queen!”

Before the two agents could say anything, their communicators went off again with an emergency message from Headquarters.

  
  


**_-All teams! We have a Code Red Emergency!! Pinkerton and the rest of his cronies just hijacked one of the Central Station trains and are making a rapid pace towards City Hall; they have multiple hostages with them and an armed bomb-_ **

  
  


“Bollocks,” Agent Hood cursed under his breath. “That lunatic is gonna turn the city into a blazing inferno. How much time do we have until that bomb goes off?”

  
  


**_-Not a lot. You’ll have to find a way to stop that train, disarm the bomb, and take out Pinkerton before this becomes an international incident._ **

  
  
  


“Understood HQ,” Agent Maid replied. “We’ll rendezvous with Agent Savage and start coming up with a plan.”

  
  
  


**_-Roger that Alpha Team, and please hurry! We’re on a major time crunch!”_ **

  
  
  


“You have no bloody idea…” Agent Maid sighed before ending the call.

  
  
  


With no time to waste, Maid, Hood, and Little quickly gathered up all of the knocked out mercenaries into one pile before tying them up and rejoining their team leader to go over the next steps in their plan to stop Pinkerton and his deadly bomb.

* * *

**_Back with Taj…_ **

_ And here we are! Yours truly, who’s totally scared out of his mind and has no clue what he’s doing, is chasing after a group of terrorists on a runaway train, full of hostages, and of course, a bomb. Typical Saturday am I right? Okay, no more jokes. As I was approaching the train, Mr. Tall, Orange, and Stripes had his boys armed and ready to shoot anything out of the sky. Including me!! _

  
  


“Woah!” Taj yelled as he was nearly hit by a rocket. “Alright, whoever shot that is getting their deadly rockets license revoked!”

  
  
  


On top of the train were six-armed mercenaries. Five of them were wielding rifles and semi-automatic weapons, while one, who was a bull, wielded a rocket launcher. But before the bull mercenary could launch another rocket, Taj shoots a web at the barrel of the weapon and delivers a swift kick to the soldier’s face. He continues the attack as he quickly disarms the other mercenaries with his webs before beating them all down; he webs up an antelope mercenary and pulls him back and forth like a yo-yo, followed by a punch to the face and a kick to the stomach. Suddenly, Taj was put into a tight armlock by a jackal mercenary and was about to get rammed by a wildebeest mercenary. But, with a little bit of ingenuity and perfect timing, the hyena vigilante was able to pull on the jackal’s whiskers, which caused him to let go of the young vigilante, followed by getting painfully tackled by his teammate. Leaving the two mammals dazed before being webbed in place. Finally, a polar bear mercenary with a predator-sized baton attempted to strike down Taj. However, he was unsuccessful as the hyena vigilante dodged every one of his hits without breaking a sweat. He then wraps up the fight by webbing the bear up in a web-like cocoon before pushing him down.

  
  
  


“Whew! That wasn’t too bad,” said Taj. “I think I can get used to this superhero stuff.” 

  
  
  


After a mere second of silence, the sound of clapping caused the tingling sensation in Taj’s mind to go off again, but a bit louder, and then a new voice was heard, “So you’re the little pest that took my boys out? I gotta say, I’m pretty impressed.” TNTiger stated as he makes a grand entrance.

  
  
  


“And you must be the main lunatic of this whole fiasco,” Taj sassed. “So, what do they call you?"

  
  
  


The striped feline gave a light chuckle before pointing at himself. "They call me, TNTiger!!"

  
  
  


“...Pfft! Hahaha!!! Really!? TNTiger!? Oh, that’s hilarious!” Taj laughed, “I mean--out of all the names you could have think of, you chose that? I mean, with all of those grenades and armor you got on, you look like some generic action figure!.”

  
  


TNTiger clenched his fists and teeth as he didn’t take lightly to the hyena’s laughter or critics towards his name. “You, arrogant little-”

  
  
  


“Aww! Is Boom-Boom Kitty getting angry?” he teases, “Would you like some milk? Or a ball of yarn?”

  
  
  


“THAT TEARS IT!?!” TNTiger roars as he lunges at the hyena vigilante with his claws and fangs exposed.

  
  
  


But before he could even touch him, Taj quickly rolls out of the way as the armored-wearing tiger lands on the opposite side of the train. Leaving a long trail of scratch marks along the way.

  
  
  


“Ooo...you were so close, and yet you weren’t” Taj gibe, “I give that score a 3.5 out of 10”

  
  
  


TNTiger, who’s angrier than ever, makes another attempt to pounce on the wisecracking hyena. However, he was once again unsuccessful as Taj sidestepped the attack with ease.

  
  
  


Taj gives off a signature hyena laugh as he watched the irritated feline fall to the ground once more, “Is that the best you got?” he asked, “I’ve seen lions and cheetahs with more elegance than you!”

  
  
  


The striped feline has reached the limits of his patience as he pulls out a combat knife from his belt holster and proceeds to charge towards the young vigilante. “If you won’t shut up, then I’ll force you to shut up!!”

  
  
  


Taj gets into a fighting stance before replying with, “Bring it on Boom-Boom Kitty!”

  
  


TNTiger goes for the attack as he violently swings his knife in all directions, hoping to get at least one hit on the bothersome hyena, but, like before he was unsuccessful as most of his strikes were dodged and he was soon met with a right hook to the jaw and a left hook one second later. Before the tiger could fully regain his bearings, his knife gets pulled away from his paws and Taj begins to unleash a multitude of punches onto the feline’s gut, followed by a double kick to the face, and a swift uppercut that sent the large flying across the train. After all of those hits, Taj figured that TNTiger would be down for the count. He was sorely mistaken.

  
  
  


“Ugh...I gotta hand it to you kid,” TNTiger says as he starts to get up. “All of that for a couple of cuts, bruises...good one,” He gives off a smug look before replying with, “ _ Now it’s my turn! _ ”

  
  
  


As the two predators charged towards each other, TNTiger had the upper hand this time around as his military fighting style is unleashed; he quickly blocks two of Taj’s punches and counters with a sucker punch to the face. He then continues the onslaught with three knee strikes to the ribs, followed by an ax kick to the shoulder, and finally, a chokeslam that left the poor hyena feeling stunned from the pain and completely out of breath. His suit was riddled with scratch marks, tears, and a bit of blood. Even his goggles were merely shattered and close to falling apart.

  
  
  


TNTiger lifts up Taj by the collar of his hoodie and shakes him a little, “Aw, what’s the matter? Ran out of witty one-liners? I was starting to have fun.”

  
  
  


“R-Really? That’s odd,” Taj replied. “I was starting to wish I had mints for your smelly breath!” he fires a double shot of webs onto the tiger’s face, leaving him vulnerable, and open for a double kick to the chest. Thus, freeing him from the feline’s clutches. 

  
  
  


TNTiger growls in frustration as he rips the webs off his face and decides to take matters into his own hands. He pulls out his trusty pistol and aims it at Taj before he could get another hit in.

  
  
  


“Ah, Ah, Ah,” he playfully teased. “Not so fast... _ Hero! _ In case you forgot, I have a bomb planted on this train,” he then takes out a portable detonator from his utility belt and pushes the center button on it. “Whoops! Looks like the bomb is set to go off in one minute. Now you have two choices kid; come after me and let these foolish mammals die? Or be a good little cub scout and try to save them? Either way, you lose and I win. So, what’s it gonna be?”

  
  
  


Taj was at a complete standstill and was running out of time. He had to make a choice. And fast. However, the young hero didn’t have to think too hard about his decision. As much as he would love to take TNTiger down already, innocent lives come first. He sprints past him and goes to open the train’s access hatch. But not before looking back at the tiger and saying, “This isn’t over!” as he hops inside the train.

  
  
  


“Oh, I believe it is,” TNTiger replied before descending off the train and into the streets below.

* * *

_ Hey, you guys missed me? Great! Cause this next part is gonna be interesting and kinda awesome; once I was inside the train, I wasted no time looking for the bomb. Unfortunately, I had no clue where to look first, the bomb could detonate at any second, and the combination of odd and fearful stares I was getting from the hostages wasn’t helping one bit. But lo and behold, a miracle was born! In the form of my then-named ‘Spider-Senses’... _

  
  


“Hmm...if I was a ticking time bomb ready to go boom, where would I be?” Taj mumbled to himself as he frantically leaps all over the train cart.

  
  


He continued this for a few more minutes until the tingling sensation from before goes off again. But this time, it hit Taj a lot harder and stronger than before, “Ack! It’s like having an alarm clock in my brain! Wait, alarm clock..?” it was at that moment, Taj had an idea and the odd tingles were going to play a key part in this. He starts by retracing his steps and checking all of the empty seats, and the corners of the cart. As he was doing this Taj’s ears began to hear a faint but familiar sound.

  
  


**_Beep...Beep...Beep..._ **

  
  


“Bingo!”

  
  


Taj made a quick sprint towards the source of the noise, of which, revealed to be the bomb. It was strapped on to the train conductor, who was currently tied up and badly beaten. He quickly untied the terrified mammal and removed the bomb from his chest. However, there was another problem; the bomb only had 15 seconds until detonation and the train was getting close to City Hall. Time was not on Taj’s side.

  
  


“Okay...this-this just got real,”

  
  


**_00: 00: 13_ **

  
  


“Alright, Nyani, don’t freak out. You’re holding a bomb. For the first time. This is fine.”

  
  


**_00: 00: 11_ **

  
  


“Be right back, folks!” Taj says to the hostages as he zips up the hatch and lands back on top of the train.

  
  


**_00: 00: 09_ **

  
  


“Okay, I need to get rid of this thing somehow or at least minimize the explosion," Taj makes the hasty decision to wrap the bomb up in multiple layers of web and uses them to create a makeshift slingshot. 

  
  


**_00: 00: 07_ **

  
  


"Here...goes...nothing!" Taj grunts as he releases the slingshot, which sent the webbed-up bomb flying into the air.

  
  


**_00: 00: 05…_ **

  
  
  


**_00: 00: 04…_ **

  
  
  


**_00: 00: 03…_ **

  
  
  


**_00: 00: 02…_ **

  
  
  


**_00: 00: 01…_ **

  
  
  


**_BOOOOOM!!!!_ **

  
  


The explosion went off in a display of a raging ball of fire. No buildings were damaged. Zero casualties were harmed. The day was officially saved. As for Taj, his work wasn't done quite yet, he still had TNTiger to deal with. But before he swung after the vicious feline, he earned a rousing applause from the now saved hostages.

_ "WAY TO GO DUDE!!" _

  
  


_ "He's a hero! Yeah!" _

  
  


_ "Thank you so much!!" _

  
  


_ "You're so freaking cool bro!!" _

  
  


Taj gave a quick salute before swinging off to find TNTiger. Lucky for him, the armored villain wasn't too hard to find as he was speeding away in a silver motorcycle; as he's speeding through the busy streets of downtown, he notices the web-slinging mammal from a distance and immediately takes action by firing shots from his pistol. Unfortunately, none of the shots landed as Taj was able to dodge all of the incoming bullets and puts the literal brakes on the feline's getaway. He fires a few web shots onto the bike's tires, causing it to make an abrupt stop, and sending TNTiger tumbling across the road. As he begins to get up, pieces of his armor were chipped and damaged, and his left eye and lip were scraped.

  
  


"Y-You think that could stop me!?!" TNTiger exclaimed with intense anger. "You, obviously don't know who the hell I am!!! I. AM. TNT-"

  
  


**_KRUNCH!!!_ **

**_POW!!!_ **

**_BAM!!!_ **

**_THOOM!!!_ **

Taj delivered a flurry of punches onto TNTiger. Every hit representing every mammal that was killed or harmed by the tiger and his men. He finishes him off with one last hit and wraps him up in his webs before saying, "Game Over, Tiger.”

* * *

**_Back at Savannah Central Station..._ **

_ After successfully saving the day and taking out my first official bad guy, bonus points for me, TNTiger and the rest of his boys earned themselves a one-way ticket to Outback Island; home to our fellow citizens from down under and the placeholder for their maximum-security prison, The Blacktomb. Anyways, I was about to take my leave until I was bombarded by a group of paparazzi and some reporters from ZNN and BarkFeed. *sigh* this oughta be fun… _

" _ Excuse me, sir! We’re from ZNN!! Do you have a few minutes of your time?" _

  
  


"I, uhh…"

  
  


_ "Where did you come from!? Who made your costume?" _

  
  


"Well, you see-"

  
  


_ "Sir! What's with the spider on your jacket? Is that some kind of gang logo?" _

  
  


_ "Are you a hero or a menace!? Mr. Al. Boehm of BarkFeed would like to know!" _

  
  


"First off, I'm a hero," Taj finally replied. "And as for the spider? Well, it was the first thing I thought of."

  
  


_ "Some of the hostages said you moved like a spider and even sprung a web. How is that even impossible!? You're just an ordinary hyena!" _

  
  


"Let's just say, I'm a special kind of hyena."

  
  


_ "We got one more question for you! And it's for everyone at home watching; what do we call you?" _

  
  


Taj was caught off-guard by this question. Seeing the fact that he hadn't even thought of a hero name for himself nor did he think he would get this far. But, thanks to these new powers of his, the young hyena was able to save tons of lives today and this was the perfect way to make a name for himself.

  
  


"Just call me...Spider-Yena!" Taj announces before swinging off. Leaving all of the reporters and other mammals behind as they take videos and photos of the self-proclaimed superhero, now known as, Spider-Yena.

  
  


_ And just like that…your friendly-neighborhood Spider-Yena was born. I'll be honest, after this crazy little adventure, I thought everyone would move on and forget about little ol' me! Hehe! Boy was I wrong... _

* * *

**_-This is a ZNN Live Report!!! With your hosts, Fabienne Growley and Peter Moosebridge._ **

  
  


**_-Citizens of Zootopia can sleep easier now that Wendell Pinkerton, or should I say, TNTiger and his men have all been taken to custody and will be facing life in prison on multiple charges._ **

  
  


**_-That's right Fabienne! Along with that, it seems that Zootopia has an official superhero now; Spider-Yena. Witnesses have stated that the young vigilante engaged Pinkerton and his group in combat, and saved a handful of the hostages. I gotta admit--that takes some courage._ **

  
  


**_-Indeed it does Peter. Reports have also stated Pinkerton was planning to detonate a bomb in the middle of City Hall. But, thanks to some quick thinking and heroics from Spider-Yena, Mayor Todd and everyone present at City Hall are safe~_ **

  
  


**_-From all of our staff here at ZNN; we thank you Spider-Yena! whoever you are, wherever you are, we hope you continue to keep our beautiful city safe._ **

  
  


**_-And now we go live with a few of our locals and see what they think of Zootopia's newest hero:_ **

  
  


_ "It's honestly terrible what happened at Savannah Central station. However, it makes me and my husband, Elijah, feel a little bit safer knowing that there's a young mammal taking a stand against evil!"  _ **_-District Attorney, Trevor Moon._ **

  
  


_ "I must say--I'm a little iffy about this Spider-Yena fellow, but, I'm willing to give him a chance. Especially since he was able to save countless lives today and stopped a group of terrorists in the process."  _ **_-Basil Dawson._ **

  
  


_ "Although I do agree with my husband, I think the young man has potential! Plus I believe the city is due for some enlightenment and hope. And I believe our daughter, Olivia, is starting to become a fan of the rising hero...hehe."  _ **_-David Dawson._ **

  
  


_ "Ehhh…I'm not all into that superhero and comic book shit like most nerds. But if it makes everyone in this overcrowded city happy, then I guess it's okay. As for Spider-Yena himself? He's alright with me"  _ **_-Esso Reese._ **

  
  


_ "Hero or not! I don't care! A vigilante is a vigilante. And like all of them, they will be put in cuffs and be thrown in a cell. So, this is a warning to Spider-Yena; stay out of our way or you're next."  _ **_-Chief Mason Bogo._ **

  
  


_ "BAH!!! I DON'T BELIEVE NONE OF THAT CRAP FOR A DAMN SECOND!!! FOR ALL WE KNOW, HE COULD'VE BEEN IN CAHOOTS WITH THAT TNT-WHATSHISFACE!!! In conclusion, SPIDER-YENA IS A MENACE!!! AND I'M GONNA PROVE IT!!!!"  _ **_-CEO of BarkFeed, Al Boehm._ **

  
  
  


_ "If I ever get to meet Spider-Yena, all I want to say to him is this: You did a wonderful job! Keep up the good work, thank you for your kind heroics, and I hope you inspire future generations to stand up for what's right! You also have my support from this point forward."  _ **_-Mayor Victoria Todd._ **

  
  


_ "Thank you, Mr. Spider-Yena! I think you're awesome!! And so does my mommy~"  _ **_-Luna Todd-Wilde._ **

  
  


**_-And that's all the time we have for right now! Thank you, D.A. Moon, Mayor Todd, and everyone else for taking the time to speak to our field reporters. I'm Fabienne Growley!_ **

  
  


**_-And I'm Peter Moosebridge! Tune in tomorrow as we continue this breaking story about Zootopia's newest Web-Mammal. And with that, have a goodnight everyone._ **

* * *

**_The next day…_ **

_ Okay, where do I start? Well, the whole city knows about me now. Most of them see me as a hero or a savior, while a few of them despise me and see me as nothing but an 'annoying vigilante' (...thanks buffalo butt). Anyways, I decided to take a stroll through the city since it was a calm and beautiful day, and no crimes have occurred. Not yet at least. But alas, my day is about to get ruined...again. _

  
  


As Taj went on his little walk through the city, he couldn't help but hear some of the conversations about his alter-ego and his fight with TNTiger from the other day. This put the teenage hyena in a good mood since he's had it rough for the past few days. He then remembers his conversation with Nate and decides to text him back, hoping to go over their plans about 'hanging out'.

  
  


Unbeknownst to Taj, two mammals in black suits, a deer and a skunk, were quietly tailing him while keeping a safe distance from him. The deer adjusted his shades before pressing his hooves into an earpiece in his left ear.

"Nyani's been spotted. What are your orders?"

  
  


**_-Keep following him. If he makes any sudden movements or attempts to run; take him out. But non-lethal! We need him to talk.-_ **

  
  


"Understood ma'am."

  
  


As they continue to pursue him, Taj's spider-sense begins to go off and he frantically looks around for the source alert. "Seriously!? Now?" He says to himself. He continued to look around until he made eye-contact with the two suited mammals before saying, "Uh-oh...time to go!" Before making a hasty escape.

  
  


"Damn it," the deer cursed. "After him!"

  
  


"Rooftop, you're up!" Said the skunk, "He's heading your way. Fire when ready!"

  
  


**_-Oo-De-Lally!-_ **

  
  


The mammal on top of the rooftop was a fox who wore a tactical green vest with a hood and a single arm sleeve, black combat pants, and a pair of specialized green sunglasses. He had a quiver full of standard and trick arrows and, was getting ready to shoot as he had his bow drawn and a taser arrow in tow.

  
  


Before he knew it, he sees Taj coming around the corner in a hot sweat as he continues to outrun his pursuers. That is until...

  
  
  


"Sorry kid...this won't hurt...too much," he lets the arrow go and watches it fly towards Taj's back. Zapping painful volts of electricity throughout his body until he fell onto the ground and completely blacked out.

  
  


The two suited mammals finally caught up and noticed the unconscious hyena on the side of the street. They pulled Taj into a nearby alleyway and quickly handcuffed him before checking his bag; inside of it were some school books, the top-secret files from Alphasun Industries, and his suit and web-shooters. The two mammals then proceed to turn on their earpieces.

  
  


"Director Winter," the deer started. "Nyani has been neutralized and captured."

  
  


**_-Good work. Did you find anything on him?-_ **

  
  


"Uh, those missing files from Alphasun, his school supplies, and some other things."

  
  


**_-What other things? Care to elaborate agent?-_ **

  
  


"It's probably better if you see this for yourself Director. Trust me.

  
  


**_-Alright, fair enough. All three of you return to HQ and leave Nyani in the Interrogation Room. Agent Savage and I are gonna have a little 'chat' with him.-_ **

  
  


"Yes, ma'am! Agents Prince, Flower, and Hood out."

  
  


**_To be Continued..._ **


	6. Great Power

_ Okay...time for a little Spidey Recap: fought my first bad guy and saved the day, became a rising hope for Zootopia (according to the media), and what else? Oh yeah...I GOT ABDUCTED!!! AND TOOK A FREAKING ARROW TO THE BACK!!! WHO THE HELL DOES THAT!? -ahem- anyways, let’s see what my ‘abductors’ want with me… _

  
  


Inside the interrogation room of MCB Headquarters stood well-renowned agent, Jack Savage, Director Skye Winter, and their young suspect; 16-year-old Tajani Nyani. The teenage hyena had his head lowered as he was still unconscious from getting knocked out by a taser arrow earlier and was currently tied up to a chair. The two mammals stood across from him on the other side of a stainless steel table as they were having a private discussion. 

  
  


“So let me get this straight…” Agent Savage started, “...this delinquent was that wannabe vigilante that single-handedly took out Pinkerton, disposed of a bomb before it detonated, and saved all of those citizens? This gotta be some publicity stunt.”

  
  
  


“I’m just as skeptical as you are Jack,” Director Winter replied. “But it’s true. It’s him.  _ HE’S  _ the vigilante, or, Spider-Yena? I think that’s what he called himself?”

  
  
  


“That’s not gonna catch on,” scoffed Agent Savage. “Anyways, you said the kid had those missing files from Alphasun right? What would he want with stuff like that?”

  
  
  


The arctic vixen sighed in frustration before looking back at the unconscious teenager and her colleague, “I don’t know...but I think it’s time for our ‘special guest’ to wake up and ask him ourselves.”

  
  


“Leave it to me,” said Agent Savage as he hops on the table and walks over to Taj. As he’s approaching him, the buck rabbit lightly taps his foot on the side of Taj’s head. “Wakey-wakey sunshine! Naptime is over!”

  
  
  


Taj soon wakes up from his deep slumber, feeling a bit groggy and uncomfortable, as he gets a throbbing pain in his head and back. “...Ahhh...shit...w-where am I?"

  
  
  


"You'll find out soon enough kid," said Agent Savage as he hops off the table. “He’s all yours Director.”

  
  
  
  
  


“Wait, Director…?” 

  
  
  
  


The arctic vixen approached the tied-up 16-year-old with her signature cold glare and a tan folder in her paws. “That would be me, Mr. Nyani, and I have a few questions for you. Let’s start with something simple: What do you know about Alphasun Industries?”

  
  
  


Taj tilts his head in confusion before replying with, “The fact that they’re some kind of generic company and the mammal who owns it is some snarky tycoon?”

  
  
  


“Well, you’re half right,” said Director Winter. “They’re supposedly a massive corporation that wants to ‘help’ advance all of the scientific and technological branches within Zootopia. But in reality, it’s just a cover-up for their true intentions; creating bio-weapons and starting a new age apocalypse.”

  
  
  
  


“Bio-weapons? New age apocalypse?” Taj laughed, as he found the arctic vixen’s explanation hard to believe. “I’m sorry, but, that sounds like the plot to a super cheesy sci-fi movie!”

  
  
  


“You’re one to talk...Spider-Yena.”

  
  
  


_ “....” _

“That’s what I thought.” sassed Director Winter, “Now, I have a few more questions: Why were you snooping around Alphasun a few days ago? And why did you foolishly decide to risk your life to stop a terrorist attack?”

  
  
  
  


“Technically, I wasn’t snooping. I was trying to avoid my daily ass-whooping from my school’s local knucklehead and that building was the first place that caught my eye,” Taj replied. “Secondly, I chose to  _ ‘risk my life’  _ because I’m sick and tired of the senseless violence! I’m tired of watching innocent mammals lose their lives because of monsters like Pinkerton! I just want Zootopia to be a safe city again. A place where everyone isn’t afraid of each other...or if they’re gonna live to see a tomorrow...that’s why I did what I did yesterday.”

  
  
  


Director Winter nodded in acknowledgment of Taj’s statement before speaking once more. “If I had to take a guess...you lost someone close to you...didn’t you?”

  
  
  


“...Yeah, I-I did,” Taj answered in a somber tone. “Look, I don’t wanna talk about it, okay?”

  
  
  


“I understand, sorry. But I have a proposition for you; what if I put you and your family in witness protection?” Director Winter asked softly. “We can move you to a new city, change your names-”

  
  
  


“Hold on a second!” Taj shouted with a hint of frustration and confusion. Why would my family and I go into witness protection!? Zootopia’s my home, my friends live here, I can’t just leave all of this behind!”

  
  
  
  


“Well, you don’t have a choice Mr. Nyani. Thanks to you ‘not snooping’ around Alphasun, Oscar Burnell is pissed and is on total edge,” Director Winter bluntly stated. “It won’t be long before he discovers who stole his precious files, and I’m entirely sure that he’s not gonna rest until the perpetrator is dealt with...permanently. Meaning; you, your family, and everyone else you care about are in grave danger.”

  
  
  


“No…” was all Taj could say at the moment. His mind, on the other hand, was rattled with so many thoughts and regrets.

  
  
  


_ “This is all my fault! If I hadn’t snuck into that stupid building, none of this shit would’ve happened!! First grandpa and now my friends and family!? Ugh! Damn it...why can’t I just have a normal teenage life!?” _

  
  
  


“Um, if I may Director,” Agent Savage started. “What if we have the kid join us? I mean, he’s reckless, a bit inexperienced, and those ‘quips’ of his are mediocre at best. But, he has  _ some  _ potential.”

  
  
  


“He’s only 16 Agent Savage! And honestly, I don’t think he’s remotely read-”

  
  
  
  


“Hey, I may be a kid, and yes I’m new to the whole hero thing, but, I want to do everything I can to help,” Taj said sternly. If all this crap you’re saying about Oscar Burnell is true and the whole city is in trouble? Then, I’m in. And I won’t take witness protection or no for an answer. So, what’s it gonna be?”

  
  
  
  


Director Winter and Agent Savage were astonished by the teenage hyena’s answer before giving each other a confirmation nod as they looked back at Taj and gave him their final thoughts.

  
  
  


“Alright, kid…” Agent Savage started. “If you’re willing to risk your neck, to save all of Zootopia, then fine. I’ll give you a shot.” he begins to untie Taj from his chair.

  
  


“Ahhh...I can move a little better now..” said Taj as he was finally able to stand up and stretch his body. “Now, it's time for my question; who the hell are you guys?"

  
  
  


Director Winter gave a little smirk before saying "Well, Mr. Nyani? Welcome, to the MCB."

* * *

**_Meanwhile at Alphasun Industries..._ **

Inside the office of CEO, Oscar Burnell, the large Ursa was watching yesterday’s news coverage of the Savannah Central Station attack and the results of Zootopia’s newest champion, Spider-Yena coming to the rescue and saving the day. As the footage continues to play, Burnell grabs his computer with sheer force before letting out a massive roar and throwing it towards the wall. He continues his temper tantrum by smashing his fists onto his desk, snapping it in half, and knocking the rest of his materials over. Once he was done, Burnell, took a few minutes to compose himself and readjust the tie on his suit.

  
  


“Much better…” he sighed with relief. “Now I know who to blame for what happened to  _ MY  _ spider and  _ MY  _ files; Spider-Yena. I’ll make him regret the day he ever came to this city.”

  
  
  


**_Knock! Knock! Knock!_ **

  
  
  


"Yes, what is it!?"

  
  
  


_ "We apprehended the intruder sir! She's currently being held by security." _

  
  
  


"Excellent, has she said anything yet?"

  
  
  


_ "No, sir, she's keeping her mouth shut and refusing to cooperate with us. Luckily, we have "special ways" of making her talk. Right sir?" _

  
  


Burnell gave off a menacing laugh and a toothy smile before replying, "let's get started."

Over in the security room, Alphasun’s predator-sized security guards were standing in a massive circle as they each take a turn at beating and kicking a female panda scientist. Who turned out to be an undercover agent for the MCB. The panda herself refused to talk as she took blow after blow, after blow, she even tried to fight back until one of the guards broke her arm and twisted her ankle. They enjoyed every second of torturing her, but, they were starting to lose their patience as the panda gave them no emotion or reaction to the pain she’s endured.

  
  
  


“This bitch is tougher than she looks…” panted one of the guards.

  
  
  


“Yeah, well, even if she doesn’t say a word...it’s still a real  _ PLEASURE _ to beat her until she stops breathing!!” another guard added.

  
  
  


“Let’s stop for now…” the guard captain suggested. “I’m sure Mr. Burnell would like a turn to make ‘conversation’ with our ‘guest’.”

  
  


The panda agent, also known as Agent May, was completely out of breath. Her breathing was exasperated, she was coughing up gushes of blood and tightly gripped her possibly broken or bruised ribs as she tries to get on her feet. However, as she was about to stand up, Burnell casually walked into the room causing everyone to stay quiet and forcing the security guards to back away from the injured mammal and go into standard formation.

  
  


“Mr. Burnell, Sir!” The guard captain acknowledged.

  
  
  


“As you were Captain,” Burnell replied. “I appreciate you and your team softening her up for me. I’ll take it from here.”

  
  


Burnell slowly approaches the panda agent with a smug look on his face. He kneels and cups her face to be at eye level with her. “Now this is too good to be true! A scumbag-excuse-for-justice is in my building. Tell me; did you think that you and the rest of those fools at the Major Crimes Bureau could figure out my plans? How predictable.”

  
  
  


“...G-Go to hell you bastard!!” Agent May exclaimed furiously with blood running down her mouth. “I’ll make sure you and everyone else here rot in jail for a long time.”

  
  
  
  


“Your pointless threats don’t scare me, dear,” Burnell chuckled. “If you were a smart agent, you would know better than to threaten me. Especially if you don’t want anything bad to happen... _ to your children. _ ”

  
  
  


That last sentence sent immediate chills down Agent May’s spine, silencing her in a matter of seconds. What makes matters worse is that she never once mentions her two daughters while she was undercover. “You stay the hell away from my girls!! Do you hear me!? Don’t you lay a damn paw or claw on them.” she growled with tears in her eyes and her maternal instincts kicking in.

  
  


Burnell’s smug expression soon turned into a hardy laugh as he finally got what he wanted; a reaction. “I knew that would break you,” he smiled. “Your pitiful love for your children was your downfall…”

  
  
  


“W-What..?” she mumbled.

  
  
  


“Take her to the tube...it’s time for a little experiment.” Burnell happily expressed.

  
  
  


The security guards did what they were told and carried the badly injured agent out of the security room and into the hallway. She could barely fight back nor scream for help as she used up her remaining bit of energy to snap at Burnell, which didn’t go as planned. May just stayed silent for a few more minutes as she kept going in and out of consciousness due to her losing too much blood.  _ “I’m...not...gonna...make it...I’m so sorry girls…”  _ she thought to herself. She soon snapped out of her thoughts as she and her ‘escorts’ walked into a brightly lit laboratory full of computers, test tubes, and multitudes of jars full of mysterious chemicals. May was soon thrown into one of the giant glass capsules that stood in the center of the room. She took a couple of minutes to regain her bearings and stand on her other good foot before attempting to break out of her glass prison. But to no avail, the panda had no strength left to break free nor any breath left in her lungs. She was going to die.

  
  
  
  


“Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” Burnell sneered. “Bruised, beaten, exposed, and of course, weakened. That’s the problem with all of you MCB agents. You think you’re the heroes of your little agency, but in reality; you’re all nothing but fools with a basic badge.”

  
  
  
  


“YOU’RE GONNA PAY FOR THIS BURNELL..!!! DO YOU HEAR ME!? I’LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!!” Agent May exclaimed with her last dying breath. 

  
  
  
  


Burnell gave a cold smile before turning his back on the trapped agent. He then tells the scientists to proceed with the experiment, which activated the built-in vents inside the capsule. Suddenly, the vents began to release a cloud of crimson red gas that surrounded Agent May inside of her glass prison. The gas makes its way into the panda’s body, causing her fur and skin to fall apart instantly, her lungs collapsing due to the lack of oxygen and a slight build-up of blood, then a choking sensation afterward. But, before she succumbed to the gas’s toxic smokes Agent May slammed her paw against the glass one last time. Staring directly at Burnell, with a mix expression of hatred and defeat, and one last message to the large brown bear:

  
  


_ “Damn...you…” _

  
  


At that moment, MCB Agent May, otherwise known as, Grace Huang, was pronounced dead. Her now lifeless body lay flat inside the glass capsule as all of the crimson red gas begin to subside. A few seconds later, Agent May’s body begins to twitch; giant spider arms start to burst from her sides, her paws became more limber and monstrous, her fur turns completely grey, and then the rest of her head and body transforms into a mutant spider-hybrid with a set of six eyes, razor-sharp fangs sticking out of her mouth, and an intense desire to kill or eat anything on sight.

  
  


“It worked,” Burnell says in a fascinated but calm tone. “The experiment was a success...however…”

  
  


**_Crack! Crack! Smash! ROAAARRRRHHHH!!!!_ ** The spider-hybrid roared as it begins to go on a raging tantrum inside of the glass capsule. 

  
  
  


“This is only a prototype and the effects of the gas make the host go blindly beserk. No control. No senses. Not even a bit of awareness. Just a dumb...mindless...monster. We need to run more tests.”

  
  
  


“Mr. Burnell! Mr. Burnell! It’s about to break free!!” shouted one of the scientists as they notice the spider-hybrid getting dangerously close to breaking out of the capsule. “If we don’t do something, that monstrosity is gonna kill us and probably everyone else in the building!”

  
  
  
  


Burnell remained calm despite the ongoing crisis around him and simply adjusted the tie in his suit once more. He then turns his attention to the fearful and panicking scientists and gives the following orders in his coldest voice that he can muster up, “Engage the flamethrowers. Leave no trace of it behind! It has no purpose for me anymore.”

  
  
  


And with that final order, all of the scientists proceed as planned and fired up the built-in flamethrowers inside the capsule, setting the spider-hybrid ablaze immediately. The creature’s cries and roars of pain from the burning flames made everyone in the room, minus Burnell cringed, and wince at this horrific act that was displayed in front of them. This went on for five more minutes until the spider-hybrid’s body was nothing but a pile of ashes and charred remains.

  
  
  


“All of you, get back to work and get this mess cleaned up. Now!” Burnell demanded as he turned one heel and walked out of the laboratory. Phase two of his plan was officially complete. Zootopia is in grave danger. And, Burnell had a new objective set in his mind; kill Spider-Yena.

* * *

**_Back at MCB Headquarters..._ **

_ Welcome back, everyone! Let’s continue: after my captors freed me, they revealed themselves to be Federal Agents of the Mammals Central Bureau or MCB for short. Director Skye Winter, the head vixen in charge of this place, gave me the basic rundown of what they do and how they run their missions and objectives compare to the ZPD. Looks like Chief Bogo might have some competition. Anyways, Director Winter continues to show me around the base, which includes, meeting some of the other agents in the agency, sleeping quarters, a mission ops room, and of course a training room. The place where I ultimately get my--you know what? I’ll let this scene play out… _

  
  


As Taj and Director Winter walked through the training room, they take a minute to stop and look at a few of the agents’ sparing against each other; it was currently between Agents Hood and Little as the sly fox tries to outwit and outspeed his larger opponent/teammate. He almost had him on the ropes until Hood got a little too cocky and lost his footing, thus, leaving an opening for Little to tackle and pin him to the ground. Ending their sparring match.

  
  


"Woah…" Taj whistled. "I guess Foxy Loxy didn’t stand a chance.”

  
  
  


“I wouldn’t underestimate him, Mr. Nyani,” Director Winter replied. “Agent Hood may have a habit of putting his foot in his mouth, but, he makes up for it with his keen senses and athletic abilities during missions.”

  
  
  
  


“She’s got a point kid!” Agent Savage added as he approached the duo in a pair of black fitness pants, a light grey tank top, and an extra pair of workout clothes on his shoulder. “I worked with that fox for years and let me tell ya; he’s a bit of a smartass,” he says with a half-smirk.

  
  
  


Director Winter gave a sincere smile as her tail unknowingly wags. “Glad you can join us, Agent Savage. I was just giving our recruit, Mr. Nyani, a little tour of our facilities.”

  
  
  


“Tajani or Taj is fine,” the teenage hyena corrected. “And honestly, I’m gonna need some time to get used to this new environment.”

  
  
  


“They’ll be time for that later kid. For now, we start training! Catch!” Agent Savage immediately tossed the extra pair of workout clothes to Taj, who caught it with ease and said the following: “Get dressed and meet me back here in five minutes! I wanna see this so-called  _ ‘Spider-Yena’  _ in action.”

  
  
  


"You're on stripes!" Taj acknowledged, accepting the grey rabbit's challenge.

  
  
  


After changing into his more athletic attire, Taj and Agent Savage stood on the opposite ends of the training room as they were preparing to spar with one another. While this was happening a small audience was starting to form from Director Winter, Agents Hood, Little, Maid, and a few other agents that wanted to either see some action or watch the newbie get owned by one of MCB’s top mammals.

“Uh, what’s with the background gallery?” asked Taj, “I thought it would be more of a private match.”

  
  
  


“Getting cold feet I see,” Agent Savage replied. “I was kinda hoping for a challenging fight kid! But I guess you’re all talk and no fight.”

  
  
  


“Oh, please! I can kick your cute cottontail-”

  
  


**_POW!!!_ ** In a matter of seconds, Agent Savage launched a fierce right hook towards Taj, which left the teenage hyena’s nose throbbing with intense pain and even a bit of bleeding.

  
  
  


“Ahhh!! Shit…the heck was that!?” Taj angrily exclaimed as he rubs his bruised nose. “I wasn’t even ready!”

  
  
  


“That was your first lesson kid,” Agent Savage started. “Never, ever, EVER, call a rabbit or a bunny cute! The last mammal that did that ate through a straw for two years. Now, for your second lesson.” He sprints towards Taj once more and delivered a full-forced dropkick towards his chest, sending the poor hyena tumbling onto the ground. He then follows it up with a hopping kick as Taj attempts to stand back up, followed by a quick but deadly back kick towards his stomach. He then wraps this up by pinning Taj to the ground and putting him in a double armlock “Don’t underestimate your opponent’s abilities kid,” Agent Savage stated in a serious tone. “Regardless of their size or species, they too can be strong, cunning, deceiving, and will not hesitate to kill you on the spot. This isn’t a game. This is real life. Real consequences. If you want to be a hero, kid, then you need to show me a little bit more than just you running your mouth.”

  
  


At that moment, Taj went silent for a minute as he laid his head on the ground. This signal the end of the sparring match between Agent Jack Savage and new MCB Recruit: Tajani Nyani.

  
  
  


Agent Savage let go of Taj’s arms and hopped off his back before looking down at him and saying “You got a strong spirit kid...with a bit of training and some pointers...I think you can become a great hero someday.” he gave him a reassuring smile before offering him a hand.

  
  


“Thanks,” Taj replied as he took the rabbit’s hand and stood back up. “So, now what?”

  
  
  


“Now, you’re part of the team kid. My team,” Agent Savage answered. “Which means this: you’ll be following my orders and be under my command for now on. Any questions?”

  
  
  


“Yeah, you think I could take a little break?” Taj asked sheepishly. “I’m kinda beat...literally.”

  
  
  
  


“Not just yet kid,” Agent Savage says in a sly tone. “You still got some training to do.”

  
  
  


Taj pinned his ears back as he was afraid of that answer and getting his butt kicked once more by the surprisingly agile rabbit. This isn’t going to end well. “Oh dear god…” he groaned. “Who do I have to fight now?”

  
  
  


“That would be us, lad,” an eager Robin stated as he, Marian, and John approached the duo, making their appearance known. “Firstly, I would like to apologize for shooting you with that arrow of mine; you made it very difficult to catch you. Secondly, welcome to Alpha Team! Aside from being your new teammates, we’ll also be your mentors and help you improve with your combat and agility.”

  
  
  


“Ah, so you’re the prick that nicked me with that arrow,” Taj annoyingly sassed. “Might wanna work on your aim a little bit more.”

  
  
  


“You also need to work on that attitude and your mouth, young man,” Marian bluntly retorted as she points her batons at Taj’s mouth. “Because I can promise you this...I train and discipline recruits... _ HARD. _ Do I make myself clear, Tajani Nyani?”

  
  
  


Taj immediately nodded and straightened up his posture and face after getting a first-hand verbal warning from the deadly vixen, that was, Agent Maiden, or commonly known as, Marian Wilde. “Yes, ma’am. Crystal clear.”

  
  
  
  


“Much better,” Marian says as she goes back into a more chipper mood. “Okay, shall we get started, boys?”

  
  
  
  


“I thought you’d never ask,” John laughed as he cracked his neck and knuckles. "Don't worry kid, we'll try not to rough you up...too much."

  
  
  


Taj just gave a defeated sigh and got into a fighting stance once more before replying with, "Oh, this is gonna hurt…"

  
  


_ And it did. Like a lot. But at the end of the day, it was worth it. My fighting style and acrobatic skills have improved! Not to mention, I learned so much from all of my intense training with Agents Savage, Hood, Maiden, and Little; although, I learned more from Agent Savage. However, the next few weeks for me were stressful and tiring at best. Balancing school, training, and crime-fighting was no easy task. It makes me wonder how Team Ceartais were able to balance their lives. Who knows! They're just comic book characters. Anyways, I believe we have reached my favorite part of the story. You guys are gonna love this... _

* * *

**_3 weeks later..._ ** __

After enduring two hours of training with Robin and Marian, Taj took a well-deserved shower and was currently resting in the break room while texting Nate. His wagging tail and the increasing smile on his face gave away his mood in their conversation.

  
  


**_-Can’t wait to see you tonight!- Taj_ **

  
  


**_-Hehe! You make it sound like a hot date dude. Should I go all fancy feline? Or casual? ;) -Nate_ **

  
  


**_-Lol, you’re such a dork! Plus it’s just us hanging out. So--casual clothing, please. -Taj_ **

  
  


**_-Okay, I was going to go with a casual look anyway lol. I’ll save fancy for a later occasion…but I gotta go for now. I’m gonna try something new with my hair -Nate_ **

  
  


**_Haha! Good luck dude! TTYL! -Taj_ **

  
  


As soon as he sent his last text, Taj was soon approached by one of MCB’s head scientists, he was an armadillo that was carrying a heavy-looking metal briefcase and had a mixed expression on his face; it was full of thrill and even a bit of pride. He placed the briefcase next to the hyena before greeting himself. "It's done! It's finally done!"

  
  


"What is Ron?" Taj asked, albeit confused about the armadillo's sudden excitement.

  
  


"Your new suit kid!" He excitedly replied, "It almost took me and a few of the guys at the lab all night to add the finishing touches to it. But no worries, it's done, it's ready, and it’s all yours!”

  
  
  


“Thanks, Ron,” said Taj as he picked up the suitcase. “If you don’t mind me asking, why did you take the trouble to make me a whole new suit? What’s wrong with my current suit?”

  
  
  


“Oh boy…” Ron sighed, knowing Taj isn’t going to like the answer. “How do I put this gently? You’re running around in pajamas kid. I mean, goggles? Mediocre. The sleeveless hoodie? Cliche. Been done too many times. C’mon man...I’ve seen superheroes with better-looking suits than that. Oh, and you know what I would call that suit of yours?”

  
  
  


“No, what?” Taj asked in a slightly irritated tone.

  
  
  


“Crappy Cosplay,” Ron smirked.

  
  
  


_ Ouch… guess it’s time for another introduction; the mammal that just roasted me on my taste of superhero fashion was Ronald Dilligan. He’s one of the head scientists that work for the MCB, the guy that made...and fixed...my suit, my web-shooters, and other cool gadgets within the agency. More importantly, he’s a really good friend that will watch your back and will help you out when you need it. Hell, I honestly can’t think of a time when Ron didn’t have to save my ass when I’m fighting one of my villains. -sigh- good times...sorry, got a little sidetracked again. Let’s get back to the story… _

  
  


As Taj steps inside one of the private changing rooms, he puts the briefcase down on the bench and prepares to open it. But, he starts to hesitate and takes the time to process everything that’s been happening to him as of late. From the beginning, Taj was this problematic teenager who had issues and wanted nothing more but to cause trouble and misery for others. Then life had other plans for him on that fateful night when he was bitten by that spider and gained extraordinary powers; this gift would also become a burden for him to have for years to come. On that same night, Taj’s grandfather, Jamal Nyani, was unfortunately killed in a store robbery gone wrong. Full of nothing but hate, anger, and primarily revenge, Taj decided to take matters into his own hands and go after the mammals that took his grandfather away from him. While he was successful in finding him, he almost got himself killed and nearly went down a regretful path of darkness, and he also knew this:  _ “No matter what I do...no matter what I could’ve done...it won’t bring grandpa back. I NEED to do better! I HAVE to do this! I didn’t get these powers just so I can use them for revenge. No. I can save people, I can help people, I can keep Zootopia safe. Not as some ordinary mammal...but as a hero.”  _ And he got his chance; taking down the ex-soldier turned terrorist, TNTiger was his big break. And thus, Spider-Yena was born.

  
  


“Well here goes nothing,” Taj takes a deep breath as he unlatches the buckles on the briefcase and opens it. Slowly revealing all of the contents inside; in the case was a folded up orange-and-blue suit with matching orange fingerless gloves, boots, a mask with plastic frames, black ears, and a blue mane that runs from the head to the neck, and a black spider emblem that stood in the center of the chest. The suit also had a large orange spider emblem in the back, along with that, most of the orange portions of the suit were covered in a specialized web pattern. And finally, on the sides of the suitcase were newly upgraded web-shooters with a light-up display in the center and a bottom slot for the web cartridges.

  
  


Taj whistled as he was truly impressed and maybe a bit shocked by his new outfit and gear. He then carefully pulls the suit out of the case and watches it unfold as he gets a better look at it. Taj soon grows a humble smile and says, "Ron, you've truly outdone yourself" before getting undressed and trying on his new suit.

* * *

Inside the Mission Ops room, Director Winter, Agent Savage, and the other members of Alpha Team were sitting around the table waiting for Ron; he had a ‘surprise’ for them and hastily left the room to go get it.

  
  


“Ron’s surprise of his better be a good one,” said Agent Savage, wanting to get this over with. “I was supposed to be finishing up some paperwork.”

  
  
  


“And I promised my dear Marian a moonlight dinner and a lovely stroll through the Meadowlands,” Robin says as he gives the red vixen a wink and a sly smirk.

  
  
  


Marian smiled and giggled at her husband’s flirting gesture before wrapping her arms around him and giving him a couple of quick pecs on the cheek. “You always know how to treat a lady,”

  
  
  


“Alright, alright,” John started. “Before Foxy and Loxy here go beyond just kissing and flirting, should someone go fetch Ronald? It’s getting late.”

“No Need!” Ron announced as he burst through the door. “Behold...the new and improved...Spider-Yena!!

  
  
  


Taj, now officially known as Spider-Yena confidently walked into the room. Flexing his muscles and showing off all the fine details that were put into the suit. He then proceeds to take off his mask and fix up his mane a bit. “So, what do you guys think?”

  
  
  


“I like it,” said Director Winter. “It’s an improvement from your first suit.”

  
  
  


“Now you look more legit kid,” Agent Savage added. “Bad guys will take you seriously now.”

  
  
  


“You look amazing, darling,” said Marian. “The suit looks well detailed too.”

  
  
  


“Can’t wait to see that suit in action!” John exclaimed excitedly. 

  
  
  


“Better than those pajamas you wore before,” Robin critiqued. “This is honestly a more proper look for you.”

  
  
  


“More important question; how do you like the suit kid? Is it to your liking?” Ron asked anxiously.

  
  
  


Taj looked over himself for a second and goes, “I-It’s awesome Ron! Seriously. I love it. But...it’s a bit tight around my-”

  
  
  


“Woah. Woah. Woah. Too much information kid,” Ron stated, not wanting to hear the end of that sentence.”

  
  


“Uh, right...sorry...hehe..”

  
  


_ After debuting my new and official suit, I decided to take it out for a test run before meeting up with Nate. I first crawled up to the top of the Sequoia Towers, mainly to get a better view of the city, and to do something cool but crazy. How crazy are we talking? Well, watch this… _

  
  


Spider-Yena stood on the ledge of the tower as he looked down at the streets below. He then takes a deep breath before making a running start, and gracefully leaping off of the building. As he’s freefalling, the web-mammal performs an assortment of acrobatic tricks as the relaxing breeze from the evening sky flew through his body and the blue mane on his mask. He then fires a web at a nearby building and uses it to swing himself back into the air with twice the speed and momentum.

  
  
  


_ “WOOOO-HOOOO!!!” _ Spider-Yena shouted excitedly.  _ “I LOVE THIS SUIT!! HAHAHAHA!!!” _

  
  
  


As he’s swinging through Downtown, a few of the citizens began to notice Spidey and his new look. Some even took out their phones and started taking pictures or photos of the young hero.

  
  
  


_ “Looking good webhead!” _

  
  
  


_ “Go Spider-Yeen! Go Spider-Yeen! Go Spider-Yeen!” _

  
  
  


_ “Ay! Spider-Yena! Love the new suit bro!” _

  
  
  


Spider-Yena gave a nod and a salute to the complementing mammals as he continuously swings through the district. But suddenly, his spider-senses start going off when he soon notices a small weasel in a dirty undershirt and a pair of track shorts running off with a few purses in his position. However, before the little crook could get any further with his stolen goods, he gets pulled into a web and is tied to a nearby light pole. “You gotta be kidding me…” the weasel mumbled. “...how did I, Duke Weaselton, let myself get caught by some chump in a costume!? This is some bulls--mph!” but before he can finish his vulgar rant, the small mammal’s mouth gets webbed shut.

  
  


“That’s enough out of you, Mr. Dirty Mouth,” Spider-Yena gibed. “Now you be a good little weasel and wait for the nice officers to take your scrawny butt to jail okay? Have a goodnight!” And with that, Spider-Yena takes one more swing through the neighborhood, thwarting a few more crimes along the way, and calling it a night. Tajani Nyani, on the other hand, had other plans on his mind.

* * *

**_Back in Savannah Central..._ **

_ After escorting a few low-level carjackers to Precinct One, I quickly head home to shower once more and change into a more casual look. Nothing too fancy. Just a basic pair of blue jeans and a button shirt that was buried deep in my closet. Anyways, right as I was about to walk out the door, my grandma straight up goes: “Have a nice date Tajani! And make sure you treat Nathan like a gentleman~" followed by a wink. I was trying to deny it, but grandma, she read me like a book...plus I had a deep blush and my traitorous tail was wagging like crazy. Moving on from that, I eventually made my way to Nate's house and was currently trying to hype myself up before knocking on his door… _

  
  


"C'mon Nyani," Taj mumbled to himself. "If you can fight a grenade obsessive tiger and leap from a tall ass building, then it shouldn't be hard to knock on the door. Right?"

  
  


**_Knock! Knock!_ **

  
  


_ "Who is it?" _

  
  


"Uh...it's Taj? Tajani Nyani? I'm here for Nate."

  
  


After a few seconds of silence, the door started to open, and out came an adult lioness. She had light tan fur, brown eyes, and was wearing a purple sleeveless top and a jean skirt. "How are you doing Taj?" 

  
  


"I'm doing well, Mrs. Furaha," Taj answered. "How's the rest of the family?"

  
  


"Everyone's doing alright," Mrs. Furaha smiled. "So, what teenage shenanigans are you and Nathan getting into tonight?"

  
  
  


“No shenanigans, ma’am,” Taj replied. "We're just gonna play some games and get food from our favorite hangout spot. We won't be out too long! We'll try to be home before 11:00 pm."

  
  


"Well that's good to hear Taj," said Mrs. Furaha. "Just be careful and have fun!"

  
  


"Don't worry! We will!" Taj reassured.

  
  


As their conversation went on, the sound of footsteps coming from the staircase caught both Taj and Mrs. Furaha's attention. Coming down the stairs was Nathan, who surprisingly looked different; he was rocking a pair of black jeans, a brown leather jacket with a black t-shirt underneath, and his once full mane was trimmed and stylized into a side part cut. Mrs. Furaha was impressed with how her son cleaned himself up and looked fairly nice for once. Taj, who was completely swooned, felt his heart beating a thousand miles per hour, his cheeks were practically on fire, and his tail looked like it was about to fly off. Although he was able to steady his heartbeat and get his tail under control for the moment, that didn't stop the lovestruck hyena from growing a huge smile on his face.

"H-How do I look?" Nate asked nervously as he straightened up the collar on his jacket. "This isn't too much, is it? Maybe I should-"

  
  


"Nathaniel Felix Furaha." Mrs. Furaha firmly stated, "You are fine. You look handsome. And you're still my baby boy!" She says as she ruffles his hair a bit and gives him a couple of smooches on the cheek.

  
  


"Aw geez, ma!" Nate half groaned as he tries to suppress a laugh. "Do you have to give me one of your infamous 'mommy kisses' in front of my friend?"

  
  


"Yes, yes I do," Mrs. Furaha answered as she gives her son one more kiss on the cheek. "Enjoy yourself and call me when you're on your way back!"

  
  


"Will do Ma! See you later!" Nate says as he waves his mom goodbye before walking out the door with Taj next to him. 

  
  


Once the two teens were outside, they checked each other out and complimented one another on their outfits. Taj mainly, as he couldn't keep his eyes off of Nate's new hairstyle and his chill but happy demeanor. Without a second to waste, they proceeded towards the bus stop to catch the next available bus to Sahara Square. As they were walking, Taj gets pulled over to Nate's side as he feels the large feline's arm resting on his shoulder. This left the lovestruck hyena feeling more giddy and excited than he was before.

  
  


After a good 10-15 minute bus ride across town, Taj and Nate finally made it to Sahara Square. They both decided to take the scenic route as they wanted to look around and check out all of the beautiful lights and displays that were spread throughout the district. They even took a few pictures and selfies for the road. Once that was done, Taj and Nate continued their walk through the district until they've reached their destination; a retro arcade called 'The Zootopia Gala'. The place was full of old school arcade games, and a few tabletop games like pool, skee ball, and table hockey.

  
  


"Man, it's been a while…" Nate sighed, feeling a bit nostalgic. "When was the last time we came here?"

  
  


"When we were 10 and hopped up on sugar," Taj replied with a little laugh. "Plus I remember you crying because you couldn't beat my high score in table hockey," He playfully teased as he stuck his tongue out."

  
  


"Ha, ha, you just got lucky bro," Nate retorted with a bit of sass. "And for the record, you were the one that was crying because I was going too fast."

  
  
  


"Yeah, right dude!" Taj laughed. "I can smoke you and probably up my score at the same time."

  
  


Nate raised his eyebrow and smirked before asking, "Is that a challenge Nyani? Because if it is...then you're on!"

  
  


"I was hoping you say that," Taj says, returning the smirk to his feline friend. "Loser buys dinner and the winner gets bragging rights for the remainder of the night?"

  
  


"It's a deal!" Nate says, accepting Taj's challenge.

  
  


And so, the challenge has begun. Both Taj and Nate spent the next hour trying to outscore and outwit each other in a friendly, but frivolous, game of table hockey. Nate was on a roll for good while and had a pretty high score. That is until Taj made a sudden comeback, with a little assistance from his spider-senses and a bit of extra speed. In the end, the match ended up as a draw and the boys decided to call it a night and go grab some food from a nearby restaurant.

  
  


_ *sigh* That was honestly a fun time and one hell of a memory...once we left the gala, Nate and I decided to grab a slice from our favorite pizza joint. It was kind of a slow night and we were able to get a nice seat by the window. After we ordered our food...I was ready...I was ready to tell Nate how I felt. Results? See for yourself… _

  
  


Taj was nervously tapping his foot as he tried to conduct the right words to tell Nate. He had to do this right. He couldn't mess this up. No pressure right? He could do this.

  
  


"Hey, Nate?" Taj started, "There's something I need to tell you." He nervously rubs his arm like a shy child.

  
  


"What's up, bro?" Asked Nate. "Is everything alright? If you're ready to go home, I under-"

  
  
  


"No! No! No! It's not that," Taj halted. "It's just that...we were friends for a long time and you've always been the coolest and lax guy in our group. And I like that about you. However, after I came out as both bi and an inter when I was 13, I started to develop feelings...for you…at first, I thought it was one of those silly school crushes and I would just move on to some other mammal...that didn't last long...and as we got older, and the years going by, my feelings for you got even stronger. It got to the point where I couldn't stop thinking about you. Your smile. Your laugh. Your sense of humor. Everything. Nathan, what I'm trying to say is...I like you! Like truly like you. And I was wondering...would you like to be my boyfriend?"

  
  


Nate was in complete silence, practically at lost of words from what he just heard. Luckily for Taj, a huge smile began to form on the lion's face. He looks directly at him and goes: "Dude...I already know."

  
  


"Wait! You did!?" Taj exclaimed with a bit of shock and confusion in his voice. "H-How did you know? If you don't mind me asking." 

  
  
  


"For starters, Charli told me that you constantly stare at my ass," Nate laughs. "You always have that dreamy look and smile on your face whenever I talk or smile, and honestly? I think it's kinda cute."

  
  


"R-Really?" Taj stuttered as he starts to blush and pin his ears back.

  
  
  


"Mmhm," Nate nodded. "Plus the twins told that you always talk about me and say how handsome I am?" He says as he casually crosses his arm and gives the hyena a sly smirk.

  
  
  


"Y-Yep that's true…" Taj confessed as his cheeks and ears were burning with passion.

  
  
  


"And also," Nate got up from his seat and sat closer to Taj before giving him a little peck on the cheek and saying, "The answer is yes, bro. I would love to be your boyfriend,"

  
  


"Hehehehe!" Taj gives off a signature hyena laugh before immediately covering his mouth. "Sorry…" He mumbles, feeling super embarrassed.

  
  
  


"It's okay," Nate laughs a little as he wraps his arms around his new boyfriend. "So, are we official now...my love?"

  
  
  


Taj looks up at Nate with a soft smile as he gently strokes his fur and replies with, "Yeah...I believe we are." 


End file.
